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Jennifer Aniston made a rare comment about watching her Friends costar Matthew Perry battle his addiction for decades before his tragic death.
“We did everything we could when we could,” Aniston, 56, said in a lengthy Vanity Fair profile published on Monday, August 11. “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.”
Aniston elaborated on her complicated feelings surrounding his death.
“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 said. “I’m glad he’s out of that pain.”
The former costars skyrocketed to fame after starring on NBC’s hit sitcom Friends with Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer. The group stayed close after filming the show from 1994 to 2004 and navigated tragedy when Perry died at age 54 in October 2023 due to “acute effects of ketamine.”
Us Weekly confirmed at the time that officers responded to a call of someone in cardiac arrest at a Los Angeles home, where they found the actor unconscious in a hot tub.
“Oh boy this one has cut deep,” Aniston wrote via Instagram one month later. “Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be.”
Aniston reflected on her close bond with Perry, adding, “For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn’t hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard.”
Two months after Perry’s death, the toxicology report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office listed drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine — which is used to treat addiction — as contributing factors.
Perry’s death was ruled an accident and an initial investigation closed in January 2024 but was subsequently reopened. Five people have since been federally charged for Perry’s death.
Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, and Perry’s acquaintance Erik Fleming pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Dr. Salvador Plasencia and Jasveen Sangha a.k.a the “Ketamine Queen” pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine.
Dr. Mark Chavez, meanwhile, pleaded guilty in October 2024 to conspiring to distribute ketamine. Chavez, Iwamasa and Fleming agreed to cooperate with the investigation in exchange for lesser charges. In July, Plasencia became the fourth of the five people charged in connection with Perry’s death to plead guilty.
If you or someone you know are struggling with addiction or mental health, contact the national Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at samhsa.gov or 1-800-662-HELP.
