Matthew Perry’s stepdad says ‘Friends’ star was “beating” drug addiction in days before death

Matthew Perry’s stepfather has shared details about the late actor’s condition before he died.

Perry, who is best known for playing Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom Friends, died on October 28 in his home in California, aged 54.

The latest update on Perry’s cause of death was from “cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression”, stemmed from the acute effects of drug use.

In a new interview with Hoda Kotb on the Making Spaces podcast, Perry’s stepfather Keith Morrison spoke about the actor’s death.

“He felt like he was beating it. But you never beat it, and he knew that too.”

Perry had suffered from severe drug and alcohol addictions throughout his life, and he had been receiving ketamine-assisted psychotherapy sessions at the time of his death to treat anxiety. However, the medical examiner’s report found that the treatment did not account for the ketamine found in his system at death.

Morrison continued, speaking about the effect of his grief: “It’s with you every day. It’s with you all the time, and there’s some new aspect of it that assaults your brain. It’s not easy.”

He reflected on Perry’s personality; the actor became known for his sharp wit and dry, sarcastic sense of humour. “He was goofy,” said Morrison. “He was funny. He was acerbic. But even if he didn’t say a word, he was the centre of attention.”

Morrison spoke of Perry’s attitude to receiving treatment, saying he would get to “a certain point” and then “accept help when he needed it”.

“But as he said himself, it just kept happening … and it was a big bear. It was a tough thing … [a] big, terrible thing.”

Meanwhile, last month Perry’s X account was hacked by a cryptocurrency group attempting to commit fraud.

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