On October 28, 2023, Matthew Perry sadly passed away in his own home at around 4 p.m. on Saturday evening. The Los Angeles Fire Department and the Los Angeles Police Department arrived at the scene about 10 minutes after they received a 911 call from Perry’s home. For the moment, the identity of the caller will not be revealed. Medics state that they came upon Perry in his hot tub, head propped above water by a bystander. Firefighters performed a prompt medical assessment to see if he was deceased and it turns out he was. Law enforcement stated to the New York Times that no “illicit drugs” were found at the scene. Also, LAPD Captain Scott Williams stated that “the cause of death may not be known for some time, but at this point, no foul play is suspected.”
This loss is terribly heartbreaking. Matthew Perry was a beloved member of the television show Friends and an important advocate for victims of addiction, considering he was one himself. Perry was highly addicted to alcohol and drugs for most of his life, and was “an alcoholic with his first drink at the age of 14,” according to theguardian.com. After he discovered he had pancreatitis due to his misuse of alcohol and was taken to the hospital, he got addicted to a pain medicine that they gave him, a type of opioid. Also, after a jet ski accident, he got hooked on pills in addition to his tie to alcohol, which made his addiction two times as bad. Perry went to rehab multiple times and fought to stay sober, but regretfully always bounced back on his addiction. According to biograph.com, “As a sign of what a low point he reached, he crashed his Porsche into a house the day he was released from the hospital…though alcohol or drugs weren’t in his system that day, it was further proof of how out of control his life was.” While Perry had all this fame and stardom during his Friends career, he seemed well put-together when he was working on the show and socializing with coworkers. But outside of his job and in his personal life, things were going down a quick spiral. Perry even stated that during filming, he was always on pills, drugs, or alcohol, and this caused some memory loss for the show for him. He said that he does not enjoy watching the show in the slightest because all he can see through his eyes is his physical and mental condition during each season. According to stylecaster.com, he recalled his appearance on the show as “when I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills. When I have a goatee, it’s lots of pills.”
At the moment, Perry’s cause of death is unknown. We know that he drowned in the hot tub, but from what? We have yet to find out. No intense drugs were found around or near him, just prescription pills. Also, authorities have cause for suspicion on the theory of his drowning, because his body was not waterlogged when they arrived at the scene. If it were a relapse, that would be awful. He would have fought so hard, and gone through multiple therapies just to be taken by this awful addiction. But if it does not turn out to be a relapse, the loss is still unfortunate. Although most people will remember Matthew Perry as the iconic Friends star, he posted in his biography that he wants to be remembered as someone who helps others first, not as an actor for Friends. All we can do now is abide by his honor and respect the loss of our beloved star.
