Matthew Perry says he’ll remove Keanu Reeves insult from his book
Matthew Perry has confirmed that he will remove an insult aimed at Keanu Reeves from future editions of his book.
The former Friends star released his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing last year – which saw him discuss his long struggle with substance abuse and addiction. However, the book also received backlash, after including an insult aimed at Keanu Reeves.
The comments were made in a passage where Perry discussed the death of River Phoenix – a close friend of Reeves, who died in 1993. In it, he wrote: “Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?”
After a wave of backlash regarding the insult — which reportedly blindsided Reeves — Perry formally apologised for the insult, stating that he is “actually a big fan” of the John Wick actor and “just chose a random name” for the punchline.
Now, the 53-year-old actor has confirmed that he will remove the insult from all future editions of the book.
Perry made the announcement at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Saturday (April 22), during a panel moderated by The Times’ deputy editor for arts and entertainment, Matt Brennan.
“I said a stupid thing. It was a mean thing to do,” he said. “I pulled his name because I live on the same street… I’ve apologised publicly to him. Any future versions of the book will not have his name in it.”
He continued, adding: “If I run into the guy, I’ll apologise. It was just stupid.”
Elsewhere in the panel, Perry also shared his reassessment of the hit sitcom Friends – in which he played the character of Chandler Bing from 1995 to 2004. He explained that while he is proud that a new generation of fans have grown to appreciate Friends, almost two decades after the series ended, he does acknowledge that the sitcom lacked diversity.
“It was a different time. Nobody talked about diversity [then]… we were all stupid,” he said adding that, now, “Diversity is a huge issue. It’s the right thing to do.”
Back in December, Perry also admitted the reasons why he can’t rewatch the series anymore. Talking with CNN, he explained that while 30million people were watching the show, he was “taking 55 Vicodin a day” and “weighed 128lbs”. “That’s why I can’t watch the show, ’cause I was brutally thin,” he said.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
