Matthew Perry’s Family Speaks Out, One Year After His Death: EXCLUSIVE

Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, at age 54 after being found in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, the actor died of acute effects of ketamine. 

The “Friends” star had been undergoing ketamine treatment for depression and anxiety. But the supervised doses of ketamine are not what killed him, NBC News reported. He had also been using the drug unsupervised and had become addicted, according to prosecutors.

“I don’t even know if in his mind he had relapsed,” his sister Madeline Morrison said.

Five people were charged in relation to the actor’s death, including two doctors and the actor’s assistant, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Aug. 15.

Suzanne Morrison said she is “thrilled” that five people have been charged in relation to Perry’s death.

“What I’m hoping, and I think the agencies that got involved in this are hoping, that people who have put themselves in the business of supplying people with the drugs that’ll kill them — they are now on notice. It doesn’t matter what your professional credentials are. You’re goin’ down, baby,” Keith Morrison said.

Suzanne Morrison also said she remembered Perry saying, just before he died, “I love you so much, and I’m so happy to be with you now,” almost as if it was a “premonition.”

“There was an inevitability to — to what was going to happen next to him, and he felt it very strongly. But he said, ‘I’m not frightened anymore.’ And it worried me,” she said.

Reflecting on his stepson’s death, Keith Morrison said Perry “taught the world” something through his addiction. 

“What he taught the world is that no amount of money will cure an addict. It needs something else. That’s what we’re trying to do (with the foundation),” Morrison said.

Pursuing that goal in Canada is fitting, given Perry’s roots there.

Though Perry spent much of his adult life in Los Angeles, he grew up in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, which is now home to the new foundation.

“Canada was very important to him,” Caitlin Morrison said. “I think that he was very important to Canadians. It’s kind of a gift both ways. It’s a gift to get to serve Canadians. It’s a gift to keep him around.”

Perry had the opportunity to see just how treasured he was by his Canadian fans when promoting his memoir in 2022.

“He was astonished at the attention he got during the Canadian book tour,” Suzanne Morrison said. “He had no idea. He kept talking about it afterward. ‘Some people really like me still.’”

His mother continues to see evidence of fans’ devotion at the cemetery in California where Perry is buried.

“Whenever I’m there, there will be people coming to see him — still now. Usually that wears off,” she said. “They leave really lovely letters to him. Like, ‘I felt so sad. You helped me get through my teen years,’” she said, calling his impact on people “just unbelievable.”

His mother has kept the notes.

“I’ll maybe release them sometime, so people can see,” she said. “But they really did love him, because they could relate to him.”