Matthew Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, has revealed that her son was “very lonely” throughout his life as she commemorates the first anniversary of his tragic death.
The actor, best known for his role as Chandler Bing in Friends, sadly passed away at the age of 54 on October 28, 2023, due to the “acute effects of ketamine”. He had been struggling with depression and anxiety and developed an addiction to intravenous ketamine last autumn. In a heart-wrenching interview with NBC’s Today, Ms. Morrison shared that Matthew had a “premonition” about his death.
An investigation into his untimely demise uncovered a “broad underground criminal network” of individuals who exploited the American-Canadian actor, who had established a sober living facility for men facing similar struggles. The first of five people charged in connection with Perry’s death is set to be sentenced on Wednesday.
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Reflecting on the first year without her son, Ms. Morrison expressed relief over the charges related to his death. She also confessed: “It must be said, he was very lonely in his soul.”
Overcome with emotion, she admitted: “I’m a very lucky woman, but there was one glitch, there was one problem that I couldn’t.. conquer it (his addiction), I couldn’t help him,” adding, “The one thing I have to learn, (it’s) very hard… is you’ve got to stop blaming yourself because it tears you up.”
Keith Morrison confessed he “didn’t know how much he was taking” and believed he was sober at the time. He also realized it had not “turned into something that he couldn’t control”, acknowledging that Perry’s “exterior hid an insecure, often very sad guy”.
In a separate incident earlier this month, Dr. Mark Chavez from San Diego pleaded guilty to selling ketamine to Dr. Salvador Plasencia of Santa Monica, which he had diverted from his former ketamine clinic. The 54 year old Chavez admitted to conspiring to distribute the surgical anaesthetic during a plea hearing.
Plasencia is scheduled for trial on March 4 next year, accused of using Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa to provide the actor with ketamine between September and October last year for $55,000 (£43,000). Jasveen Sangha, dubbed by authorities as “the ketamine queen” faces trial as well, after allegations of selling ketamine to Perry for $11,000 (£8,553) in cash.
Both Sangha and Plasencia have entered not guilty pleas to the drug charges.
Iwamasa pled guilty on August 7 to conspiring to distribute ketamine causing death, confessing to “repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training”. Erik Fleming also entered a guilty plea on August 8 for conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death.