Matthew Perry’s “Friends” castmates were mourning their co-star long before his death, Jennifer Aniston said, reflecting on her late friend in a recent interview.
Perry was open about his struggles with addiction and detailed his loved ones’ attempts to help him in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.”
“We did everything we could when we could,” “The Morning Show” star told Vanity Fair in its latest cover story, posted on Monday. “But it almost felt like we’d been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight.”
The 54-year-old actor had seemed to be getting better in the months before he was found unresponsive in his hot tub in October 2023. Autopsy and toxicology results pointed to the “acute effects of ketamine,” partly enabled by drowning, as his cause of death, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office determined.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry in 1995. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Five people were arrested for helping him obtain large quantities of the surgical anesthetic, including two doctors. They and two others have taken plea deals in the star’s death. The fifth is set to go on trial later this month.
While still heartbroken over the loss of her friend, Aniston mixed also feels relief that he is no longer suffering.
“As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there’s a part of me that thinks this is better,” she told VF correspondent Julie Miller. “I’m glad he’s out of that pain.”
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