Family talks ‘Friends’ star on ‘Today’ show

Matthew Perry‘s family is remembering the late “Friends” star one year after his death.

The family — including Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, stepfather and “Dateline” correspondent Keith Morrison and sisters Caitlin, Emily and Madeline Morrison — opened up to Savannah Guthrie in a “Today” show interview that aired Monday.

Perry, who was 54 at the time of his death, was found unresponsive and face-down in the “heated end” of his pool a year ago Monday on Oct. 28, 2023. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner‘s office revealed in December of last year that Perry’s cause of death was due to “the acute effects of ketamine.”

“It hits me so hard that he’s not there,” Suzanne Morrison said.

“I’m a very lucky woman,” she said. “But there was one glitch, there was one problem that I couldn’t— I couldn’t conquer it, I couldn’t help him.”

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“Oh gosh yeah,” Keith Morrison said about Perry’s “light up the room” personality. “It’s something you’re born with or you’re not born with. And he was certainly born with it in spades.”

“But it must be said, I think, that he was very lonely in his soul,” Perry’s mother said, with her husband chiming in, “The sort of exterior that people know about hid an insecure, often very sad guy.”

Perry starred as Chandler Bing in the hit ’90s and early aughts sitcom “Friends.” He was open about his struggles with addiction, particularly in his New York Times-bestselling book, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” a culmination of his decades-long struggle with sobriety, alcoholism and drug addiction.

“If it doesn’t stop, we’re going to lose so many million people,” Perry’s mother said through tears.

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The interview also highlighted the family’s work to create the Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada. Suzanne Morrison shared Perry with her ex-husband John Bennett Perry, their only child together. The Morrisons, who married in 1981 and share four children of their own, started the foundation to assist agencies and organizations that help people who are struggling with addiction and substance abuse.

“No amount of money will cure an addict, (they need) something else,” Keith Morrison said.

California prosecutors have pursued charges against five people in connection to Perry’s death for “distributing ketamine to Perry during the final weeks of the actor’s life.”

Three people have pleaded guilty: Dr. Mark Chavez, a former ketamine clinic operator; Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa; and an acquaintance, Erik Fleming.

Physician Salvador Plasencia, 42, and Jasveen Sangha, 41, whom the Department of Justice’s press release referred to as the “The Ketamine Queen” of North Hollywood, were charged with 18 counts for their role in Perry’s death. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Suzanne Morrison said she was “thrilled” that charges have been filed in connection 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 — that they are now on notice,” Keith Morrison said. “It doesn’t matter what your professional credentials are. You’re going down, baby.”

Matthew Perry’s family recalls finding out about his death

News of Perry’s death came via a phone call to his family.

“Somebody called Suzanne, and he just said, ‘Matthew’s dead,'” Keith Morrison said, as Suzanne Morrison chimed in that the caller said, “Matthew’s dead. Your son is dead.”

Perry’s mother recalled a conversation with the actor shortly before his death where he told her, “I love you so much, and I’m so happy to be with you now,” saying “almost as though it was a premonition.”

“There was an inevitably to what was going to happen next to him,” Suzanne Morrison said.

The family reflected on Perry’s addiction, with Keith Morrison believing on some level that the actor was still sober when news of his death came, while Perry’s mother wasn’t so sure.

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

Asked what she missed most about Perry, Emily Morrison recalled her brother being “grumpy all the time” and “funny all the time,” speaking through tears as she said Perry would “do anything for you.”

“Really all he ever wanted was to love and be loved,” she said. “He struggled so much to feel peace, and I think he got a place where he did.

Suzanne Morrison reflected on the guilt she felt not knowing how to help her son through his addiction, and shared advice for other parents and loved ones going through the same situation.

“The one thing I have to learn — (and it’s) very hard to — is you’ve got to stop blaming yourself, because it tears you up,” Suzanne Morrison said.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental and/or substance use disorders, you can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s free and confidential treatment referral and information service at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). It’s available 24/7 in English and Spanish (TTY: 1-800-487-4889).

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, Jay Stahl and KiMi Robinson