Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy (2025) Movie Script
1
[POLICE SIREN WAILS]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
MALE REPORTER:
We begin tonight
with breaking news,
Matthew Perry, best known
for starring in the hit sitcom
Friends,
has died at the age of 54.
Perry was found dead
in his Los Angeles home,
just after 4 p.m.,
California time.
FORRESTER:
I got a phone call,
Matthew Perry
had been found dead.
He'd drowned in his jacuzzi.
This could not be true.
How could
this possibly be true?
He was in a really good place,
which is why
this seems so unfair.
I was just in utter shock.
He was such a heartwarming,
kind, uplifting person,
that I feel like everyone
could just turn on the TV
and feel immediately
comforted by him.
FAIRCHILD:
I flash back on that young man
who would come
bounding over on the set
like a big puppy dog.
That's always
how I remember him.
WILKER:
He's one of
very few people in Hollywood
to have ever reached that level
of success and acclaim.
FORRESTER:
But I genuinely don't think
a lot of people
realize what fame really is.
DAVID:
One of the most dangerous
parts of fame
is all of your worst instincts
are going to be catered to,
and that is a really
dangerous place to be.
Tragically Mr. Perry fell back
into addiction issues.
Mr. Perry was getting
his ketamine illegally.
How'd he get it,
who was giving it to him?
Following Mr. Perry's death,
law enforcement, my office,
began an in-depth,
wide ranging investigation.
There was just such a degree
of almost disdain for Mr. Perry.
KADING:
And these are doctors.
It's sickening actually.
When people cause
the death of others,
there needs to be
accountability.
We're talking about ketamine,
we're talking about
drug rings in L.A.,
and obviously
it spiraled out of control.
Someone who's seen him
nearly die,
and then gone back
and preyed on him for money.
[SLOW DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
[BIRDS CAW]
MALE REPORTER:
An investigation into exactly
how Matthew Perry died
is still ongoing,
and it may be weeks
before we know
an official cause of death.
FEMALE VOICE:
He sent his assistant out
to do some errands,
and when they came back,
they found Matthew unconscious
where they immediately
called 911.
FORRESTER:
I got a phone call.
I got in the car,
drove up
Pacific Coast Highway,
it's quite far up the house.
I think it was 9,
10:00 at night
by the time I got up there.
And we were met
with the road cordoned off,
a lot of police activity.
It honestly was
a bit of a circus.
FEMALE REPORTER:
Reports say his death comes
after some physical activity
this morning,
two hours of pickleball,
and that his assistant
discovered his body
in the hot tub.
ESTRADA:
I heard about
Matthew Perry's death.
This is something
that was very tragic.
It was very sad
for our community.
ESTRADA:
So initially the Los Angeles
Police Department,
they investigated,
preserved the scene to make sure
they could follow every lead.
The first people to get there
are your patrol units.
He was determined
to be dead on arrival.
It could be an accident,
could be intentional,
could be an overdose,
could be a suicide.
So there's all
these different variables
detectives need to
take into consideration.
To determine whether or not
that there's any foul play.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
[DOG BARKS]
WILKER:
When I had first read
that Matthew Perry
had this book coming out
I was like,
"Oh, that sounds like it's
gonna be really interesting."
In the book,Friends, Lovers,
And the Big Terrible Thing,
The Big Terrible Thing part
was his addiction.
Friends, Lovers,
and the Big Terrible Thing.
You start with a thunderclap.
"Hi, my name is Matthew,
although you may know me
by another name.
My friends call me Matty.
and I should be dead."
Yep, that's definitely true.
WILKER:
With the
Diane Sawyer interview,
I remember
the picture you get is,
of a man who's leading
an extraordinarily
solitary life.
PERRY:
I have had all that
the outside had to offer.
Julia Roberts
as my girlfriend.
It doesn't matter,
you have to drink.
I just bought
my dream house.
It looks across
the whole city.
Can't enjoy that
without a drink.
I'm making
a million dollars a week.
I win, right?
Would you like
to have a drink?
Why, yes I would,
thank you very much.
I'm the luckiest man
on the planet,
and boy, did I have fun.
They just
weren't the answer.
WILKER:
You just had no idea
what this person
had been through.
It is interesting, uh,
where he picks out
certain events that happened
in his early childhood,
and how they relate
all through his life
and haunted him.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC STOPS]
[SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYS]
WILKER:
Matthew Perry
was born in 1969.
And he was raised
in Ottawa, Canada.
His father was a singer.
His mom became
a Press Secretary
for the Prime Minister
of Canada, Pierre Trudeau.
His parents
were just too young.
In his book,
he talks about his mom
becoming pregnant
when she was 20,
and by the time
he was about 1,
they were done.
He describes it as they were
not meant to be together.
One of the most
dramatic parts of the story
is really very early on.
He talks about being
put on a plane by his mom
when he was 5 years old.
He could not understand,
you know, why isn't there
anybody here with me?
PERRY:
I was sent on a plane
from Montreal, Canada,
where I lived with my mom,
to Los Angeles, California,
where I would visit my dad.
I was what is called
"an unaccompanied minor."
For maybe a millisecond
I thought it would be
an exciting adventure,
and then realized
I was too young to be alone
and this was all
completely terrifying.
This is where
a lot of this started,
this feeling very alone.
WILKER:
Matthew Perry talks about
being 14 years old
the first time
he experienced alcohol.
POWER:
The first time you had a drink,
you write about.
PERRY: Yeah.
POWER: You were 14.
I was with my best friends,
the Murray brothers,
and they got some beers
and I got a bottle of wine,
and I drank
the entire bottle,
and lay in the ground
and looked at the skies,
and just felt better
than I ever had
in my entire life,
and I thought to myself,
this is probably
what normal people
feel like all the time.
WILKER:
Matthew points out in the book
that his dad went on
to have an acting career.
PERRY:
Though he was what they
sometimes call a journeyman,
he was working pretty steadily
and would eventually become
the Old Spice guy.
JOHN BENNETT PERRY:
So even if you love
only one woman,
you'll love old spice.
The man's scent
so many women love.
He was on
your television set all day.
PERRY:
I saw his face more often
on TV or in magazines
than I did in reality.
Perhaps that's why
I became an actor.
[DRAMATIC STRING MUSIC PLAYS]
In 1987, Matthew Perry
was cast in a movie
opposite River Phoenix.
It was called A Night
in the Life of Jimmy Reardon.
I've still got
20 minutes, right?
Fifteen.
The film was not exactly
a massive success,
but he said it had
a really huge impact on him.
Matthew was the first friend
I made in Los Angeles.
When I moved there
I was 21, he was 16.
We did a pilot together
called Morning Maggie,
that never saw
the light of day,
but Matthew and I became
really good friends.
And we were really more like
brothers for a long time.
As the '80s went on,
turns into the '90s,
he's working as a pretty good
guest star on television.
Enjoy Los Angeles.
By the way, Griffith Park
has the best picnic areas.
[DRAMATIC STRING MUSIC STOPS]
And eventually he was cast
in Friends,obviously.
["I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU"
STARTS PLAYING]
Excuse me.
[CROWD LAUGHS]
Is your name Chandler?
Hi.
Hey.
Chandler,
Chandler is my name.
Chandler Bing.
Do you know me or...?
Friendswas such
a global phenomenon
you know,
it was such a huge hit
all around the world.
WILKER:
The character
of Chandler Bing
seemed to be custom made
for Matthew Perry.
Please, could she be more
out of my league.
Could I be more sorry?
Could we be
more white trash?
[CROWD LAUGHS]
And it was about
six young people in their 20s
living in Manhattan,
figuring out life.
They developed
really great characters,
and the actors,
you know, play them well,
so it's really fun
and we have
a really good time doing it,
so I think
that comes across.
All right, well, be good.
I love you.
[SMACKS]
My name is Morgan Fairchild
and I've been an actor
since I was 10 years old
Hey, hey, hey, she's on.
[CROWD CLAPS AND WHISTLES]
Ah, Nora Bing!
[CROWD LAUGHS]
FAIRCHILD:
When they offered me
the part I thought,
Mrs. Bing sounded like
a hoot to play.
What is this about you
being arrested in London?
What is that all about?
Your mom was arrested?
Shh! I'm busy
beaming with pride.
PHOEBE:
Okay, well...
Working with Matthew
and becoming his mother
was an interesting process.
I'm leaving for
New York tomorrow,
which I hate,
but I get to see my son,
who I love.
FAIRCHILD:
You know, Chandler
wanting a normal mother,
and Nora Bing
never being able to execute,
being a normal mother
because she is who she is,
and she's a little eccentric,
and she's a little oversexed
and she's a little hyper,
but she loves him.
[SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYS]
WILKER:
By the end of the first season,
they knew,
you know, this is it.
This is gonna be a juggernaut.
FEMALE REPORTER:
You're looking wonderful.
Thank you very much.
MALE REPORTER:
Matthew, right back here!
FEMALE REPORTER:
Who's the funniest person
in the cast?
Matthew Perry.
Lisa Kudrow.
REPORTER:
Matthew! Matthew!
And at one point,
they were being paid
more than
$1.1 million an episode.
REPORTERS:
Matthew! Matthew!
FEMALE REPORTER:
Matthew! Your left.
MALE VOICE:
Matthew! Matthew!
We think
as outsiders looking in,
if I had millions of dollars,
all my troubles would go away.
REPORTERS:
Matthew! Matthew!
FEMALE REPORTER:
Matthew, one second here...
WILKER:
But there's a thing
going on inside
that can't be cured,
money can't cure it,
fame can't cure it.
[SOLEMN MUSIC STOPS PLAYING]
WILKER:
With the Diane Sawyer
interview,
I remember I felt
a little bit relieved, like,
"Oh, thank God, you know,
he seems like he's okay."
You say, "addiction,
the big terrible thing
is far too powerful
for anyone to defeat alone,
but together,
one day at a time,
we can beat it down."
Yeah, your disease
is just outside
just doing one-arm pushups,
just waiting,
just waiting for you.
Waiting to get you alone.
Because alone,
you lose to the disease.
And now I finally feel okay
and feel like
I've got some strength.
FORRESTER:
I'd reported on him
for so many years,
and seeing what
he looked like on TV,
and speaking to her,
it seemed like
he was doing so well.
Everyone thought
he was clean and sober.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
ESTRADA:
An autopsy was conducted.
That autopsy showed
that he had died
as a result of
the acute effects of ketamine.
FEMALE REPORTER:
There was ketamine found
in Matthew Perry's system
and it was reported
that he had been receiving
ketamine-infusion therapy
to treat depression
and anxiety.
FORRESTER:
When the toxicology report
came back,
that's when we knew that,
you know, there's way more
to this story.
That began to open the door
to the possibilities of,
you know, ketamine abuse
and if so, how'd he get it,
who was giving it to him.
It became incumbent upon us
as investigators
to determine how he obtained
that ketamine.
ESTRADA:
We began working
the various leads.
And we learned
that there were
allegedly multiple sources
of supply for the ketamine.
Those sources were people
who should have known
much better.
You just
don't wanna believe it,
that it could be
something that sinister.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC ENDS]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
FEMALE REPORTER:
The question now?
Where did Matthew Perry
get the ketamine?
These defendants
took advantage
of Mr. Perry's
addiction issues
to enrich themselves.
These are the parts
of the story
that then become
even more disturbing.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC ENDS]
[POLICE SIREN WAILS]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
FEMALE REPORTER:
A criminal investigation
is underway tonight
into the death ofFriends star
Matthew Perry.
MALE REPORTER:
The investigators focusing
on the amount of ketamine
found in the actor's body
and they want to know
where it came from.
ESTRADA:
Following Mr. Perry's death
in October of last year,
law enforcement, my office,
and our partners
represented on this stage
began an in depth,
wide ranging investigation.
That investigation
has revealed
a broad underground
criminal network
responsible for distributing
large quantities of ketamine
to Mr. Perry and others.
KADING:
In the indictment,
there are five people
who are involved
in an ongoing conspiracy
to provide Mr. Perry
with ketamine.
ESTRADA:
These defendants took advantage
of Mr. Perry's addiction issues
to enrich themselves.
This network included
a live-in assistant,
Kenneth Iwamasa.
FORRESTER:
Matthew Perry's
personal assistant,
Kenneth Iwamasa
arrested and charged,
which I think
was quite a shock,
because he'd been
with Matthew Perry
for many, many years.
FEMALE REPORTER:
New details
are coming to light
about Matthew Perry's
longtime assistant
and his involvement
in his death.
According to law enforcement,
Kenneth "Kenny" Iwamasa
administered
the dose of ketamine
that killed
the belovedFriends star.
ESTRADA:
On the last day
of Matthew Perry's life,
Mr. Iwamasa injects Mr. Perry
several times.
And one last injection,
he leaves him,
goes to run some errands,
comes back,
and we find
Mr. Perry passed away.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC STOPS AND
SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
O'NEILL:
As far as being
an assistant goes,
it can be super glamorous,
but it's very hard work,
as well.
They have to meet
so many criteria
and I think trust
is the number one criteria
for a celebrity.
Ken was living with him,
he was working
with him 24/7.
When you have
a personal relationship,
the lines get blurred.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC ENDS]
FORRESTER:
It's a very tough subject
talking about being
a celebrity's assistant
because if you've been
in Hollywood long enough,
you know how hard
that job is.
[SLOW DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
O'NEILL:
I felt bad that
he was in that position,
and I thank God that
I was never in that position.
Your boss asks you
to do something
and you may not feel
comfortable doing it,
but this is your livelihood
on the line,
and if you say no,
they'll just find somebody else
who will say yes.
I think it's easy
for people to judge Ken
and say that he, you know,
never should have done that.
O'NEILL:
I mean, I don't know him
personally,
but if I were in his shoes,
I would be horrified
at the situation.
[SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYS]
In 1996, Matthew Perry
was making a movie
with Salma Hayek,
Fools Rush In,
and out near
their shooting location,
he saw a bunch of jet skis
out on the lake,
and he wanted to do it.
And there was an incident,
and he hurt himself,
and he was given opiates
for his pain.
And thus began
a new addiction.
At that point, he was aware
of his own problems
with alcohol, but it was
a new level with painkillers.
PERRY:
You can track the trajectory
of my addiction
if you gauge my weight
from season to season.
You know what?
I'm not gonna
end up like this.
PERRY:
When I'm carrying weight,
it's alcohol.
I can't believe
I ruined this.
PERRY:
When I'm skinny,
it's pills.
Oh, my God!
PERRY:
When I have a goatee,
it's lots of pills.
He talks very vividly
about his weight gains
and weight losses.
[SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYS]
You wanted it
to be a surprise.
He has a very
vivid description
of the scenes
when he's proposing
to Monica.
I thought...
Wait, I can do this!
When they come back
the next season,
there's such a marked
difference in his weight.
Monica and I are engaged.
Oh, my God!
Come on.
[AUDIENCE LAUGHS]
Congratulations.
What doesn't Matthew know?
That he's all right.
We didn't know.
We, you know,
we weren't equipped,
we weren't--
To deal with it.
You know? Nobody had ever
dealt with that.
I tried to reach out
a little bit
and let him know
I was there for him
FAIRCHILD:
because I have had
other people in my life
who've had trouble
with alcohol or drugs,
and I'm here to talk
if you would like to.
His life was overtaken
by addictions
that in each phase
that he writes about,
he finds a new way
to try and handle
and never can.
He talks about spending
more than $9 million,
going to detox more than
at least 12 times.
PERRY:
I have lived half my life
in one form or another
off a treatment center
or a sober living house.
Which is fine
when you're 24 years old,
less fine
when you're 42 years old.
Now I was 49,
still struggling to get
this monkey off my back.
He talks about going to
yet another detox program,
yet another place,
this time in Switzerland,
and this was the first time
he was introduced to ketamine
and you can tell
by the way he writes
that it made
an impression on him.
PERRY:
I was also doing
ketamine infusions every day.
Ketamine was a very popular
street drug in the '80's.
There is a synthetic form
of it now
and it's used
for two reasons:
to ease pain,
and help with depression.
It has my name
written all over it.
They might as well
have called it Matty.
Ketamine felt like
a giant exhale.
Like being hit in the head
with a giant happy shovel.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
Matthew Perry described
his first treatment
with ketamine
as being hit over the head
with a happy shovel,
it doesn't surprise me at all.
FEIFEL:
What Matthew Perry experienced
was this lifting
of this depression.
And what's profound
about ketamine
is it does it
almost instantaneously.
FEIFEL:
Typically,
the patients that come here
are patients that have tried
conventional treatments
for things like depression,
anxiety, PTSD,
and they just found that
they were really
not making any progress.
So they come in saying,
"I need something different."
Hi, Annie.
Hi, Dr. Feifel.
Great to see you.
It's good to see you too.
So it's been about
three weeks, I think,
since your
last treatment, right?
Yup.
Ketamine is actually
a very old drug, if you will.
I mean, it's a drug
that was developed
in the 1960s
as an anesthetic.
At lower doses,
this drug seems to have
remarkable properties
for treating mental illness.
And the idea behind that
is it kind of kick starts
the brain changes
and the psychological changes
that can have
that therapeutic effect.
Treating patients in
a medically observed environment
is critical,
because ketamine can result
in a person
losing consciousness.
We're always
continuously monitoring
patients' blood pressure,
their heart rate,
and their oxygenation status.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC STOPS]
[KNOCKS]
Hi, Annie...
ANNIE: Hello.
How are you feeling?
I'm doing good.
Good.
[SLOW DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
I really hope that this becomes
a more accessible treatment.
Because I know
so many people
who are stuck feeling like
they have to depend
on SSRIs or pills and stuff
and they don't always work.
FEIFEL:
The majority of our patients
report for the days
and weeks afterwards,
they just feel like
they have more normal emotions,
they're free of the depression,
the anxiety, the PTSD.
The speed at which
it can improve things
is unprecedented.
FEMALE REPORTER:
According to
the autopsy report,
he had high levels
of ketamine in his blood.
With Perry reported
to be receiving
ketamine infusion therapy
for depression and anxiety.
However,
an investigation concluded
the ketamine did not come
from the infusion therapy,
as his last treatment
was a week and a half
before his death,
and the drug clears the system
in a few hours.
Ketamine is
a controlled substance.
It is a substance that can have
legitimate purposes,
but it has
to be administered
by trained professionals.
Unfortunately, it is a drug
that is also abused.
Mr. Perry fell back
into addiction.
And he began searching
for additional sources
of ketamine.
DAVID:
If you're an addict,
anything that can be abused
can sort of wake that beast up.
WILKER:
Hollywood is full of enablers,
and I don't think
that's unique to Hollywood.
I think any industry
where there's
a lot of money to be made,
you're always
gonna find enablers.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
There's a whole plethora
of criminal activity.
They supplied Matthew Perry
with large amounts of ketamine,
in exchange
for large sums of money.
That really hit me.
Out of anything.
That they'd really preyed
on somebody vulnerable.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC ENDS]
[SLOW DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
[POLICE SIREN WAILS]
FEIFEL:
One could describe
the current state of ketamine
access and treatment
as a Wild West.
Because there's
a great demand for ketamine,
there's a lot of physicians
making decisions to provide
ketamine because they can.
So we see
a lot of physicians
suddenly open up
these clinics.
I think the main thing that
can make ketamine dangerous
is its unsupervised use.
That's where we have
a dangerous situation.
FEMALE REPORTER:
This morning new details
on potential charges
in the death of actor,
Matthew Perry.
A law enforcement source
familiar with the investigation
into how he obtained
the ketamine
that contributed to his death,
tellingNBC News
several people
who supplied Perry
with the drug
could face federal charges.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
KADING:
Once a responsible doctor
realizes
a person is abusing drugs,
he'll no longer prescribe it.
So then they have to go find
another more friendly doctor
until they find somebody
with no consideration
or concern
about responsibilities.
ESTRADA:
Kenneth Iwamasa allegedly
began obtaining ketamine
from these two medical doctors,
Dr. Salvador Plasencia
and Dr. Mark Chavez.
Ketamine is
a Schedule 3 narcotic,
under the
Controlled Substance Act.
And a Schedule 3 narcotic
has to be prescribed,
for it to be
legally distributed.
KADING:
According to the indictment,
Dr. Chavez creates
prescriptions for the ketamine,
and he's distributing down
to Dr. Plasencia.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC STOPS PLAYING]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
When you read some of
the communications
that law enforcement
was able to get its hands on,
it's sickening actually.
ESTRADA:
Dr. Plasencia was very clear
in text messages
and other messages
in saying that he saw this
as an opportunity
to make a lot of money
in a short amount of time,
and he allegedly
did just that.
He sets the prices,
which were exorbitant.
And the indictment
contains evidence
that he sold
over about a month,
20 vials of ketamine
to Mr. Perry
in exchange for $55,000.
They supplied Matthew Perry
with large amounts of ketamine,
in exchange for large sums
of money,
charging Perry $2000
for a vial that cost Dr. Chavez
approximately $12.
ESTRADA:
They even talked
about the fact
that this wasn't the right way
to administer ketamine,
yet this was
a golden opportunity
to make money.
And at one point, Dr. Plasencia
writes to Dr. Chavez
quote, "I wonder how much
this moron will pay."
There was just such a degree
of almost disdain
for Mr. Perry.
And these are
medical doctors.
FORRESTER:
The text messages,
I think that really hit me
out of anything.
You know, that they'd really
preyed on somebody vulnerable.
DAVID:
The demeaning way
they talked about him,
it's sort of hard to believe
these are human beings
walking among us.
KADING:
According to the indictment,
these individuals were using
the app called Signal,
which is an encrypted app.
Oftentimes people think
that because it's
an encrypted app
that law enforcement
can't access it,
but it's not the case.
Oftentimes law enforcement's
ahead of the game.
Within the indictment,
there's a whole plethora
of criminal activity.
Dr. Plasencia
even teaches Mr. Iwamasa
how to do the injections.
Allegedly,
you have Dr. Plasencia
providing ketamine
to a live-in assistant,
who has no medical training
whatsoever.
And that live-in assistant
is administering ketamine
to a person
whose risk factors
are through the roof.
KADING:
So you've got doctor,
doctor, assistant.
But when it reached a point
where Mr. Perry's request
or demand for more ketamine
became so great
that Dr. Plasencia
and Dr. Chavez
could not provide
that amount,
they then reached out
to an intermediary
who was this Mr. Fleming.
ESTRADA:
Erik Fleming had
no medical training,
so the risk factors
are through the roof.
It sounds murkier
with the assistant
and the doctors,
and now a go-between person.
KADING:
Mr. Fleming in turn
went to reach out
to an individual
named Jasveen Sangha,
known as the Ketamine Queen.
ESTRADA:
We searched her house.
She was
a massive source of drugs.
DAVID:
This was something bigger
than people
ever expected it to be.
And when I heard
the details,
I was, like everybody else,
horrified.
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
FORRESTER:
There's nothing
like Hollywood.
Fame is hugely important
to a lot of people
that come here.
But a lot of people
come here to make it.
But I genuinely don't think
a lot of people realize
what fame really is.
DAVID:
I do think people
seek fame and celebrity
to fill a hole
that that's never going to fill.
WOMAN: Matthew!
MAN: Matthew! How are you?
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
Matthew Perry writes
very vividly
about seeking fame.
But wanting fame
to stop his own issues.
Fame, fame, fame,
that's all we wanted.
It was all we cared about
because, at least for me,
I figured being famous
would fill the great hole
that was endlessly growing
inside of me.
I think one of the most
dangerous parts of success,
whether that's wealth
or fame or both,
is that all
of your worst instincts
are going to be catered to,
and that is
a really dangerous place to be.
O'NEILL:
I think that people feel
that stars can do no wrong,
and they love
to build them up
as much they love
to tear them down.
It's an impossible place
to be.
I remember when Matthew was
first starting to go public
about some of the issues,
and yeah,
I was terribly proud of him.
It's hard,
especially in this town
to admit
you've got any problem,
that there's anything wrong,
and I thought
it was very brave of him
and I was
very, very proud of him.
He did seem to really want
to help other people
that were also struggling.
You were in treatment
for something--
Yeah.
Substance abuse?
Well, it actually happened
during this movie,
while we were shooting
this movie,
it's been
pretty well-documented
that I had some problems
with alcoholism and addiction,
and before this movie was over,
I left the film to go get help.
You know, and it's kind of--
LETTERMAN:
How are you doing now?
I'm doing great.
I'm doing really great. Thanks.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
My true message is
that, you know,
if you face this,
then sobriety is possible,
and I've never been
happier in my life.
LETTERMAN:
Good for you,
that's a lovely thing.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
MAN:
Matthew! Suprise! Up top!
FAIRCHILD:
He was trying to help people
even when he was struggling,
even in the midst
of his own pain,
he tried to reach out
to other people.
MAN:
Matthew,
right here please.
All the way over here.
there you go. Thank you.
And that smile, Mat.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
The night I went into AA,
Matthew brought me in.
Um, the whole first year
I was sober
we went
to meetings together,
and he was such a great...
I got to tell him this,
he was just, as a sober person,
um, he was so caring
and giving and wise
and he totally helped me,
um, get sober.
[SAD MUSIC PLAYING]
I hadn't been there
for anyone for so long,
my addiction
being my best friend
and my evil friend
and my punisher
and my lover, all in one.
My big terrible thing.
I sensed an awakening,
that I was here for more
than this big terrible thing.
That I could help people,
love them,
because of how far
down the scale I had gone,
I had a story to tell,
a story
that can really help people.
And helping others
had become the answer for me.
He got a lot
of personal satisfaction,
pleasure, almost,
from helping other people,
loved helping people,
loved the feeling
that it brought him.
It's lovely to have you.
I've been looking forward
to this.
Congratulations on the book.
I really enjoyed it.
How's the process been
of just talking about it?
PERRY:
It's been, you know,
what it's all about
is helping people,
and I've heard already
five stories of people
that read the book
and checked into treatment.
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
FORRESTER:
I first started
reporting on Matthew Perry
around the time
of the Friendsreunion,
rumors were circulating.
Everyone was very excited.
KUDROW: Matty! Hi.
PERRY: Hi.
KUDROW:
Could you be any later?
FORRESTER:
Matthew Perry
is a little more low-key
and he was more removed
from the rest of the cast.
PERRY: How are you, buddy?
Good.
Look at all of us.
LEBLANC: Isn't it crazy?
WILKER:
He may not have
looked great.
He may have seemed
a little off,
but the fact
that he was there,
and he was
with all those guys.
The cast of Friends,
everybody!
[CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
WILKER:
It was like
when your favorite rock band
gets back together,
"Oh, thank God."
You know,
that's that feeling
that all these people
are together.
To me, I felt like
I was gonna die
if they didn't laugh.
And it's not healthy,
for sure.
But I would sometimes say a line
and they wouldn't laugh
and I would sweat,
and just, like,
go into convulsions.
He'd not been seen on screen
in many years.
He was obviously
somebody vulnerable.
DAVID:
They say that no matter
how long you're stopped,
your disease
is doing push-ups.
You can have 30 years
of having done
everything right
and if one day
it occurs to you
that this would be
okay to do,
and you do it,
it can kill you.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
ESTRADA:
Allegedly, Dr. Plasencia
would arrange with Mr. Perry
different locations to meet
to provide the ketamine.
On one occasion, they meet
in a parking lot in Long Beach,
and he administers
in the back of a car, ketamine.
Doctors are not supposed
to inject people
in the back of parking lots.
A trained doctor
like Dr. Plasencia
knew much better.
One of the overall themes
of our indictment
is that all these defendants
should've known better.
They were taking advantage
of an individual
and letting their greed
drive them
to endanger Mr. Perry's life.
FEIFEL:
What should've happened
at that point was,
first of all, been
monitoring his vitals,
but more importantly,
they should've made sure
that he was not near anything
that could cause him harm.
When you're not in control
of your body,
you're at risk
of doing harm to yourself.
FORRESTER:
These are the parts
of the story
that then become
even more disturbing.
Someone who's seen him
nearly die
and then gone back
and preyed on him for money.
Dr. Plasencia
had numerous red flags
that were flashing
in front of him.
The allegations show
he's providing the ketamine,
he's injecting Mr. Perry
in parking lots.
He's seeing
Mr. Perry freeze up.
At one point,
he tells another patient
that Mr. Perry is quote,
"spiraling out of control,"
but he does nothing about this.
He allegedly continues
to provide ketamine
to Mr. Perry's
live-in assistant,
which is then going
to be administered to Mr. Perry.
KADING:
According to the indictment,
it reached a point where
Mr. Perry's
request or demand
for the ketamine
became so great
Dr. Plasencia could
not provide that amount,
and then they go beyond
that scope
to another distributor.
That's when they encountered
Erik Fleming,
and the Ketamine Queen,
Jasveen Sangha.
FEMALE REPORTER:
Jasveen Sangha
aka The Ketamine Queen
is accused of providing
the doses of the drug
that actually killed Perry.
According to the indictment,
Sangha was
an illegal narcotics dealer
in the North Hollywood area.
And she was distributing
a variety of different drugs,
one of them being ketamine.
The evidence showed she sold
about 50 vials of ketamine
over two weeks for about
$11,000 to Mr. Perry.
Well, you may have heard
the nickname Ketamine Queen
in association
with the overdose death
of actor Matthew Perry.
Now another family
is coming forward.
They say that she sold the drugs
that killed their loved one.
ESTRADA:
This case involved
not just one, but two victims.
Certainly, the well-known victim
of Matthew Perry
but also Cody McClury
who we can't forget.
In 2019, Jasveen Sangha
allegedly sold ketamine
to Cody McClury,
who died as a result.
Then, one
of Cody's family members
sent a message to Ms. Sangha
telling her
her brother had died
as a result of ketamine.
KADING:
Law enforcement now sees
that there's this history.
In fact, they discover
that after the other death,
is where Jasveen had Googled
whether or not ketamine
could cause somebody's death.
So it goes to show this kind
of consciousness of guilt.
[POLICE SIREN BLARING]
We searched her house.
It wasn't just ketamine.
We found cocaine,
we found bottles of Xanax,
thousands
of methamphetamine pills.
We found drug ledgers,
scales.
The evidence showed she was
a massive source of drugs.
MALE REPORTER:
When she was growing up
in the posh L.A. suburb
of Calabasas, California,
home of the Kardashians,
she went
to one of the UC colleges,
she went to grad school
in England,
came back with an MBA.
But she kind of went astray.
MALE REPORTER 2:
Her high-end lifestyle
also included private jets,
vacations
at oceanfront resorts
and posing with celebrities.
KADING:
When you're dealing drugs
at the level
that Jasveen
supposedly was,
it's very lucrative,
and so you've got this rather
luxurious lifestyle.
MALE REPORTER 3:
Sangha, who earned
the reputation in Los Angeles
as the Ketamine Queen
could get life in prison.
Authorities say she ran
a narcotics operation
from her North Hollywood
apartment,
and had a reputation
as a celebrity drug dealer,
boasting of relationships
with celebrities
and lavish vacations
across the globe.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
KADING:
Mr. Perry brought
this whole thing
to the forefront
because of his
celebrity status.
If Mr. Perry
had not been who he was,
this may not have gotten
the attention it needed
in order to expose those people.
[SEAGULL CRYING]
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
Something was
not quite right,
and the telltale signs
were there.
We did hear that he liked
to get high in the jacuzzi.
He loved
to call himself Mattman.
He was a huge fan of Batman,
and he nicknamed himself
Mattman.
He felt powerful,
he felt invincible,
and when he was high,
those are the sort
of things he would say.
People who've been following
Matthew Perry for years,
they probably sensed
that this was strange.
So as we get
to those final days,
he's seeking more ketamine.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
Obviously it spiraled
out of control.
Kenneth admitted
Matthew had asked him
to shoot him up with a big one
and then he went off
to run errands.
He was the one that delivered
the fatal dose.
[STRANGE MUSIC PLAYING]
He just seemed like
that funny friend
that everybody has
when he played Chandler,
so I guess I did kind of
know him just a little bit,
it felt like, so yeah.
You don't know him,
but you feel like
you do know him.
[CHUCKLING] Because it's...
It was really heartbreaking.
It's weird. We're strangers,
so to be so sad about someone
you don't really know,
you know, in person,
that's how much
of an impact...
You know, I feel like...
I wish...
I wonder if he knew
that he meant that much
to so many people.
FEIFEL:
My understanding was
he ended up drowning.
If anyone was present,
they should not have let him
be anywhere near a tub
or a pool nearby.
He just lived to laugh,
and every night he would...
He was like a genius.
He would weave...
He would start to weave
comedy threads together.
Most nights
you spent with Matt,
you were crying laughing
by the end.
Um, I really loved him.
A lot of us
who were close to him
felt like we lost him
to drugs and alcohol,
um, a long time ago.
It's one of the terrible things
about this disease,
it just takes away
the person you love.
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
After Mr. Perry died,
you have Jasveen Sangha
allegedly telling Mr. Fleming,
"Delete all our messages."
They knew
that what they did was wrong,
but they did it anyways
and recklessly caused
Mr. Perry's death.
Clearly, there's a consciousness
of guilt taking place.
That's very powerful,
because if you're working
legitimately,
you don't need to go back
and cover your tracks.
You know, you can just see
there in the indictment,
these people were like,
"Holy shit, we're caught."
And so the house of cards
came crumbling down.
We all knew
that arrests were coming.
Obviously the police had been
investigating for a long time.
We knew people
were being questioned,
that it seemed like
a drug ring.
Um, we just didn't know
who exactly
was going to be arrested.
The two lead defendants
in this case
are defendants
Salvador Plasencia
and defendant
Jasveen Sangha.
First, I'll talk about
defendant Plasencia.
Defendant Plasencia was
a medical doctor.
He worked
with another medical doctor,
defendant Mark Chavez,
to obtain ketamine.
He then worked
with Mr. Perry's
live-in assistant,
defendant Kenneth Iwamasa,
to distribute that ketamine
to Mr. Perry.
I am not going to have very
many comments for you today.
Main reason is
because there are
other defendants
in this case.
But he's incredibly remorseful
that, at the end of the day,
someone who was trying
to seek treatment died.
ESTRADA:
The defendants
have all been charged.
Three of them
have pled guilty
and will be cooperating.
They wanna mitigate
the amount of years
that they're likely to do
by cooperating
with the government.
Two remain,
the two main defendants,
Dr. Plasencia
and Ms. Jasveen Sangha.
My client never met
Matthew Perry,
has nothing to do
with Matthew Perry
and all
the supposed rumors otherwise
are just that, urban legends.
This theory,
that the so-called fatal dose
is somehow linked to my client,
is absolute garbage.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
Dr. Plasencia was trying
to help Mr. Perry
and provide medical care
that would ease his problems,
and Dr. Plasencia wasn't aware
that Mr. Perry
was obtaining the ketamine
from other individuals
initially,
and when it became apparent
that there might be
something else going on,
he wasn't providing any ketamine
to Mr. Perry at that point.
It's very important for us
to bring charges
in those instances.
We brought charges
not just involving Mr. Perry
but also Mr. McClury's death
as well.
This case
was very important to us,
to bring justice to the family,
it's important
they be given closure.
In the past, we used to call
these things overdose deaths
and do more blaming
of the victim.
We don't do that anymore.
We blame the drug dealers,
the drug sellers,
for taking advantage
of those addiction issues
to cause death
or serious injury.
And that's why
we bring these cases.
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
The big takeaway
from this case
is that when people involved
in reckless activity,
whether that be drug dealing
or other activity,
cause the death of others,
there needs to be
accountability.
[POLICE SIREN BLARING]
[SAD MUSIC PLAYING]
He was such
a, like, heartwarming,
kind, uplifting person,
that I feel like everyone
could just turn on the TV
and feel immediately comforted
by him.
I lost a friend
in multiple ways,
and what's amazing
is the outpouring
from the fans,
who lost a friend
of theirs too.
And I hope wherever he is,
he feels it.
WOMAN:
The show is so great because
you don't even know them
but you feel like
they're your friends.
And so he was
my favorite one
because he just made me
laugh all the time,
so this is not easy.
[CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY]
FORRESTER:
It's so incredibly sad
that this story
has become so big.
We're talking
about ketamine,
we're talking
about drug rings in L.A.,
you know, and how medical
malpractice is everywhere,
that we're really forgetting
this story is about one man,
and one man who simply
wanted to be happy.
People are just forgetting
who he was
and that he will be missed.
KAUFFMAN:
If it doesn't stop,
we're gonna lose
so many people.
He made it a big focus
of his life
to help other people.
It's clearly
the work of your heart,
And for him.
What he taught the world
is no amount of money
will cure an addict.
It needs something else,
and that's
what we're trying to do.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
O'NEILL:
I think the greatest gift
that Matthew offered is
sharing his personal struggle
with pain and addiction.
And I feel like
he did that
because he really did
wanna help a lot of people.
COX:
I'm so thankful
I got to work
so closely with him
for so many years.
He visits me a lot,
if we believe in that.
I know
you're a spiritual person,
so you still feel
his presence?
Yeah, I sense
Matthew's around, for sure.
[HOPEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
FORRESTER:
I think Matthew Perry's legacy
is split in two parts.
On one side,
his legacy will be
this is where
you don't want to end up,
you know, if you're struggling
with drug abuse.
And then I think
on the flip side,
he's trapped in time almost
as Chandler Bing.
Matthew Perry's the funniest
person in the whole world.
On the planet.
Thank you very much
You know what?
I mean, that, actually.
I was saying it as a joke,
and I absolutely mean it.
We all laugh
at Matthew's jokes
There are very few things
in entertainment
that are as ubiquitous
as Friends.
MAN:
Are you really
actually friends?
Yes, for the last time,
we are all actually
good friends.
Thank you.
Thanks very much.
FAIRCHILD:
The way the actors
and the characters
and the ensemble
touch people's lives,
made people feel
like they had friends
even if they were alone
and feeling lonely.
Hey.
BOTH:
Hi.
[GASPING]
Hey, so, what is
the big surprise?
[GASPING]
My God.
Okay, okay,
awkward question.
The hospital knows
you took two, right?
Yes, it's twins.
In the show, we see him
finally settle down with Monica,
and I think
they end up having twins.
I think there is a sense of
he never got
Chandler Bing's happy ending.
[SAD MUSIC PLAYING]
[CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
FAIRCHILD:
It was always interesting
to watch Matthew.
He didn't seem
like he was acting.
It seemed like
he really was Chandler.
[YELLING, THEN GASPING]
Oh!
All right, you gotta give me
some of your piece.
Oh, ho, ho, no. No.
No switching, no sharing.
Don't come crying to me.
[LAUGHING SARCASTICALLY]
I may just sit here
and have my cake
all day.
Just sit here in the hallway
and eat my--
Matthew's legacy
is always going to be
the friendship that he
and the cast represented
to people
all over the world.
His legacy will be one
of hope and joy
and friendship and love.
[HOPEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[POLICE SIREN WAILS]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
MALE REPORTER:
We begin tonight
with breaking news,
Matthew Perry, best known
for starring in the hit sitcom
Friends,
has died at the age of 54.
Perry was found dead
in his Los Angeles home,
just after 4 p.m.,
California time.
FORRESTER:
I got a phone call,
Matthew Perry
had been found dead.
He'd drowned in his jacuzzi.
This could not be true.
How could
this possibly be true?
He was in a really good place,
which is why
this seems so unfair.
I was just in utter shock.
He was such a heartwarming,
kind, uplifting person,
that I feel like everyone
could just turn on the TV
and feel immediately
comforted by him.
FAIRCHILD:
I flash back on that young man
who would come
bounding over on the set
like a big puppy dog.
That's always
how I remember him.
WILKER:
He's one of
very few people in Hollywood
to have ever reached that level
of success and acclaim.
FORRESTER:
But I genuinely don't think
a lot of people
realize what fame really is.
DAVID:
One of the most dangerous
parts of fame
is all of your worst instincts
are going to be catered to,
and that is a really
dangerous place to be.
Tragically Mr. Perry fell back
into addiction issues.
Mr. Perry was getting
his ketamine illegally.
How'd he get it,
who was giving it to him?
Following Mr. Perry's death,
law enforcement, my office,
began an in-depth,
wide ranging investigation.
There was just such a degree
of almost disdain for Mr. Perry.
KADING:
And these are doctors.
It's sickening actually.
When people cause
the death of others,
there needs to be
accountability.
We're talking about ketamine,
we're talking about
drug rings in L.A.,
and obviously
it spiraled out of control.
Someone who's seen him
nearly die,
and then gone back
and preyed on him for money.
[SLOW DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
[BIRDS CAW]
MALE REPORTER:
An investigation into exactly
how Matthew Perry died
is still ongoing,
and it may be weeks
before we know
an official cause of death.
FEMALE VOICE:
He sent his assistant out
to do some errands,
and when they came back,
they found Matthew unconscious
where they immediately
called 911.
FORRESTER:
I got a phone call.
I got in the car,
drove up
Pacific Coast Highway,
it's quite far up the house.
I think it was 9,
10:00 at night
by the time I got up there.
And we were met
with the road cordoned off,
a lot of police activity.
It honestly was
a bit of a circus.
FEMALE REPORTER:
Reports say his death comes
after some physical activity
this morning,
two hours of pickleball,
and that his assistant
discovered his body
in the hot tub.
ESTRADA:
I heard about
Matthew Perry's death.
This is something
that was very tragic.
It was very sad
for our community.
ESTRADA:
So initially the Los Angeles
Police Department,
they investigated,
preserved the scene to make sure
they could follow every lead.
The first people to get there
are your patrol units.
He was determined
to be dead on arrival.
It could be an accident,
could be intentional,
could be an overdose,
could be a suicide.
So there's all
these different variables
detectives need to
take into consideration.
To determine whether or not
that there's any foul play.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
[DOG BARKS]
WILKER:
When I had first read
that Matthew Perry
had this book coming out
I was like,
"Oh, that sounds like it's
gonna be really interesting."
In the book,Friends, Lovers,
And the Big Terrible Thing,
The Big Terrible Thing part
was his addiction.
Friends, Lovers,
and the Big Terrible Thing.
You start with a thunderclap.
"Hi, my name is Matthew,
although you may know me
by another name.
My friends call me Matty.
and I should be dead."
Yep, that's definitely true.
WILKER:
With the
Diane Sawyer interview,
I remember
the picture you get is,
of a man who's leading
an extraordinarily
solitary life.
PERRY:
I have had all that
the outside had to offer.
Julia Roberts
as my girlfriend.
It doesn't matter,
you have to drink.
I just bought
my dream house.
It looks across
the whole city.
Can't enjoy that
without a drink.
I'm making
a million dollars a week.
I win, right?
Would you like
to have a drink?
Why, yes I would,
thank you very much.
I'm the luckiest man
on the planet,
and boy, did I have fun.
They just
weren't the answer.
WILKER:
You just had no idea
what this person
had been through.
It is interesting, uh,
where he picks out
certain events that happened
in his early childhood,
and how they relate
all through his life
and haunted him.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC STOPS]
[SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYS]
WILKER:
Matthew Perry
was born in 1969.
And he was raised
in Ottawa, Canada.
His father was a singer.
His mom became
a Press Secretary
for the Prime Minister
of Canada, Pierre Trudeau.
His parents
were just too young.
In his book,
he talks about his mom
becoming pregnant
when she was 20,
and by the time
he was about 1,
they were done.
He describes it as they were
not meant to be together.
One of the most
dramatic parts of the story
is really very early on.
He talks about being
put on a plane by his mom
when he was 5 years old.
He could not understand,
you know, why isn't there
anybody here with me?
PERRY:
I was sent on a plane
from Montreal, Canada,
where I lived with my mom,
to Los Angeles, California,
where I would visit my dad.
I was what is called
"an unaccompanied minor."
For maybe a millisecond
I thought it would be
an exciting adventure,
and then realized
I was too young to be alone
and this was all
completely terrifying.
This is where
a lot of this started,
this feeling very alone.
WILKER:
Matthew Perry talks about
being 14 years old
the first time
he experienced alcohol.
POWER:
The first time you had a drink,
you write about.
PERRY: Yeah.
POWER: You were 14.
I was with my best friends,
the Murray brothers,
and they got some beers
and I got a bottle of wine,
and I drank
the entire bottle,
and lay in the ground
and looked at the skies,
and just felt better
than I ever had
in my entire life,
and I thought to myself,
this is probably
what normal people
feel like all the time.
WILKER:
Matthew points out in the book
that his dad went on
to have an acting career.
PERRY:
Though he was what they
sometimes call a journeyman,
he was working pretty steadily
and would eventually become
the Old Spice guy.
JOHN BENNETT PERRY:
So even if you love
only one woman,
you'll love old spice.
The man's scent
so many women love.
He was on
your television set all day.
PERRY:
I saw his face more often
on TV or in magazines
than I did in reality.
Perhaps that's why
I became an actor.
[DRAMATIC STRING MUSIC PLAYS]
In 1987, Matthew Perry
was cast in a movie
opposite River Phoenix.
It was called A Night
in the Life of Jimmy Reardon.
I've still got
20 minutes, right?
Fifteen.
The film was not exactly
a massive success,
but he said it had
a really huge impact on him.
Matthew was the first friend
I made in Los Angeles.
When I moved there
I was 21, he was 16.
We did a pilot together
called Morning Maggie,
that never saw
the light of day,
but Matthew and I became
really good friends.
And we were really more like
brothers for a long time.
As the '80s went on,
turns into the '90s,
he's working as a pretty good
guest star on television.
Enjoy Los Angeles.
By the way, Griffith Park
has the best picnic areas.
[DRAMATIC STRING MUSIC STOPS]
And eventually he was cast
in Friends,obviously.
["I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU"
STARTS PLAYING]
Excuse me.
[CROWD LAUGHS]
Is your name Chandler?
Hi.
Hey.
Chandler,
Chandler is my name.
Chandler Bing.
Do you know me or...?
Friendswas such
a global phenomenon
you know,
it was such a huge hit
all around the world.
WILKER:
The character
of Chandler Bing
seemed to be custom made
for Matthew Perry.
Please, could she be more
out of my league.
Could I be more sorry?
Could we be
more white trash?
[CROWD LAUGHS]
And it was about
six young people in their 20s
living in Manhattan,
figuring out life.
They developed
really great characters,
and the actors,
you know, play them well,
so it's really fun
and we have
a really good time doing it,
so I think
that comes across.
All right, well, be good.
I love you.
[SMACKS]
My name is Morgan Fairchild
and I've been an actor
since I was 10 years old
Hey, hey, hey, she's on.
[CROWD CLAPS AND WHISTLES]
Ah, Nora Bing!
[CROWD LAUGHS]
FAIRCHILD:
When they offered me
the part I thought,
Mrs. Bing sounded like
a hoot to play.
What is this about you
being arrested in London?
What is that all about?
Your mom was arrested?
Shh! I'm busy
beaming with pride.
PHOEBE:
Okay, well...
Working with Matthew
and becoming his mother
was an interesting process.
I'm leaving for
New York tomorrow,
which I hate,
but I get to see my son,
who I love.
FAIRCHILD:
You know, Chandler
wanting a normal mother,
and Nora Bing
never being able to execute,
being a normal mother
because she is who she is,
and she's a little eccentric,
and she's a little oversexed
and she's a little hyper,
but she loves him.
[SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYS]
WILKER:
By the end of the first season,
they knew,
you know, this is it.
This is gonna be a juggernaut.
FEMALE REPORTER:
You're looking wonderful.
Thank you very much.
MALE REPORTER:
Matthew, right back here!
FEMALE REPORTER:
Who's the funniest person
in the cast?
Matthew Perry.
Lisa Kudrow.
REPORTER:
Matthew! Matthew!
And at one point,
they were being paid
more than
$1.1 million an episode.
REPORTERS:
Matthew! Matthew!
FEMALE REPORTER:
Matthew! Your left.
MALE VOICE:
Matthew! Matthew!
We think
as outsiders looking in,
if I had millions of dollars,
all my troubles would go away.
REPORTERS:
Matthew! Matthew!
FEMALE REPORTER:
Matthew, one second here...
WILKER:
But there's a thing
going on inside
that can't be cured,
money can't cure it,
fame can't cure it.
[SOLEMN MUSIC STOPS PLAYING]
WILKER:
With the Diane Sawyer
interview,
I remember I felt
a little bit relieved, like,
"Oh, thank God, you know,
he seems like he's okay."
You say, "addiction,
the big terrible thing
is far too powerful
for anyone to defeat alone,
but together,
one day at a time,
we can beat it down."
Yeah, your disease
is just outside
just doing one-arm pushups,
just waiting,
just waiting for you.
Waiting to get you alone.
Because alone,
you lose to the disease.
And now I finally feel okay
and feel like
I've got some strength.
FORRESTER:
I'd reported on him
for so many years,
and seeing what
he looked like on TV,
and speaking to her,
it seemed like
he was doing so well.
Everyone thought
he was clean and sober.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
ESTRADA:
An autopsy was conducted.
That autopsy showed
that he had died
as a result of
the acute effects of ketamine.
FEMALE REPORTER:
There was ketamine found
in Matthew Perry's system
and it was reported
that he had been receiving
ketamine-infusion therapy
to treat depression
and anxiety.
FORRESTER:
When the toxicology report
came back,
that's when we knew that,
you know, there's way more
to this story.
That began to open the door
to the possibilities of,
you know, ketamine abuse
and if so, how'd he get it,
who was giving it to him.
It became incumbent upon us
as investigators
to determine how he obtained
that ketamine.
ESTRADA:
We began working
the various leads.
And we learned
that there were
allegedly multiple sources
of supply for the ketamine.
Those sources were people
who should have known
much better.
You just
don't wanna believe it,
that it could be
something that sinister.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC ENDS]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
FEMALE REPORTER:
The question now?
Where did Matthew Perry
get the ketamine?
These defendants
took advantage
of Mr. Perry's
addiction issues
to enrich themselves.
These are the parts
of the story
that then become
even more disturbing.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC ENDS]
[POLICE SIREN WAILS]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
FEMALE REPORTER:
A criminal investigation
is underway tonight
into the death ofFriends star
Matthew Perry.
MALE REPORTER:
The investigators focusing
on the amount of ketamine
found in the actor's body
and they want to know
where it came from.
ESTRADA:
Following Mr. Perry's death
in October of last year,
law enforcement, my office,
and our partners
represented on this stage
began an in depth,
wide ranging investigation.
That investigation
has revealed
a broad underground
criminal network
responsible for distributing
large quantities of ketamine
to Mr. Perry and others.
KADING:
In the indictment,
there are five people
who are involved
in an ongoing conspiracy
to provide Mr. Perry
with ketamine.
ESTRADA:
These defendants took advantage
of Mr. Perry's addiction issues
to enrich themselves.
This network included
a live-in assistant,
Kenneth Iwamasa.
FORRESTER:
Matthew Perry's
personal assistant,
Kenneth Iwamasa
arrested and charged,
which I think
was quite a shock,
because he'd been
with Matthew Perry
for many, many years.
FEMALE REPORTER:
New details
are coming to light
about Matthew Perry's
longtime assistant
and his involvement
in his death.
According to law enforcement,
Kenneth "Kenny" Iwamasa
administered
the dose of ketamine
that killed
the belovedFriends star.
ESTRADA:
On the last day
of Matthew Perry's life,
Mr. Iwamasa injects Mr. Perry
several times.
And one last injection,
he leaves him,
goes to run some errands,
comes back,
and we find
Mr. Perry passed away.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC STOPS AND
SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
O'NEILL:
As far as being
an assistant goes,
it can be super glamorous,
but it's very hard work,
as well.
They have to meet
so many criteria
and I think trust
is the number one criteria
for a celebrity.
Ken was living with him,
he was working
with him 24/7.
When you have
a personal relationship,
the lines get blurred.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC ENDS]
FORRESTER:
It's a very tough subject
talking about being
a celebrity's assistant
because if you've been
in Hollywood long enough,
you know how hard
that job is.
[SLOW DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
O'NEILL:
I felt bad that
he was in that position,
and I thank God that
I was never in that position.
Your boss asks you
to do something
and you may not feel
comfortable doing it,
but this is your livelihood
on the line,
and if you say no,
they'll just find somebody else
who will say yes.
I think it's easy
for people to judge Ken
and say that he, you know,
never should have done that.
O'NEILL:
I mean, I don't know him
personally,
but if I were in his shoes,
I would be horrified
at the situation.
[SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYS]
In 1996, Matthew Perry
was making a movie
with Salma Hayek,
Fools Rush In,
and out near
their shooting location,
he saw a bunch of jet skis
out on the lake,
and he wanted to do it.
And there was an incident,
and he hurt himself,
and he was given opiates
for his pain.
And thus began
a new addiction.
At that point, he was aware
of his own problems
with alcohol, but it was
a new level with painkillers.
PERRY:
You can track the trajectory
of my addiction
if you gauge my weight
from season to season.
You know what?
I'm not gonna
end up like this.
PERRY:
When I'm carrying weight,
it's alcohol.
I can't believe
I ruined this.
PERRY:
When I'm skinny,
it's pills.
Oh, my God!
PERRY:
When I have a goatee,
it's lots of pills.
He talks very vividly
about his weight gains
and weight losses.
[SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYS]
You wanted it
to be a surprise.
He has a very
vivid description
of the scenes
when he's proposing
to Monica.
I thought...
Wait, I can do this!
When they come back
the next season,
there's such a marked
difference in his weight.
Monica and I are engaged.
Oh, my God!
Come on.
[AUDIENCE LAUGHS]
Congratulations.
What doesn't Matthew know?
That he's all right.
We didn't know.
We, you know,
we weren't equipped,
we weren't--
To deal with it.
You know? Nobody had ever
dealt with that.
I tried to reach out
a little bit
and let him know
I was there for him
FAIRCHILD:
because I have had
other people in my life
who've had trouble
with alcohol or drugs,
and I'm here to talk
if you would like to.
His life was overtaken
by addictions
that in each phase
that he writes about,
he finds a new way
to try and handle
and never can.
He talks about spending
more than $9 million,
going to detox more than
at least 12 times.
PERRY:
I have lived half my life
in one form or another
off a treatment center
or a sober living house.
Which is fine
when you're 24 years old,
less fine
when you're 42 years old.
Now I was 49,
still struggling to get
this monkey off my back.
He talks about going to
yet another detox program,
yet another place,
this time in Switzerland,
and this was the first time
he was introduced to ketamine
and you can tell
by the way he writes
that it made
an impression on him.
PERRY:
I was also doing
ketamine infusions every day.
Ketamine was a very popular
street drug in the '80's.
There is a synthetic form
of it now
and it's used
for two reasons:
to ease pain,
and help with depression.
It has my name
written all over it.
They might as well
have called it Matty.
Ketamine felt like
a giant exhale.
Like being hit in the head
with a giant happy shovel.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
Matthew Perry described
his first treatment
with ketamine
as being hit over the head
with a happy shovel,
it doesn't surprise me at all.
FEIFEL:
What Matthew Perry experienced
was this lifting
of this depression.
And what's profound
about ketamine
is it does it
almost instantaneously.
FEIFEL:
Typically,
the patients that come here
are patients that have tried
conventional treatments
for things like depression,
anxiety, PTSD,
and they just found that
they were really
not making any progress.
So they come in saying,
"I need something different."
Hi, Annie.
Hi, Dr. Feifel.
Great to see you.
It's good to see you too.
So it's been about
three weeks, I think,
since your
last treatment, right?
Yup.
Ketamine is actually
a very old drug, if you will.
I mean, it's a drug
that was developed
in the 1960s
as an anesthetic.
At lower doses,
this drug seems to have
remarkable properties
for treating mental illness.
And the idea behind that
is it kind of kick starts
the brain changes
and the psychological changes
that can have
that therapeutic effect.
Treating patients in
a medically observed environment
is critical,
because ketamine can result
in a person
losing consciousness.
We're always
continuously monitoring
patients' blood pressure,
their heart rate,
and their oxygenation status.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC STOPS]
[KNOCKS]
Hi, Annie...
ANNIE: Hello.
How are you feeling?
I'm doing good.
Good.
[SLOW DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
I really hope that this becomes
a more accessible treatment.
Because I know
so many people
who are stuck feeling like
they have to depend
on SSRIs or pills and stuff
and they don't always work.
FEIFEL:
The majority of our patients
report for the days
and weeks afterwards,
they just feel like
they have more normal emotions,
they're free of the depression,
the anxiety, the PTSD.
The speed at which
it can improve things
is unprecedented.
FEMALE REPORTER:
According to
the autopsy report,
he had high levels
of ketamine in his blood.
With Perry reported
to be receiving
ketamine infusion therapy
for depression and anxiety.
However,
an investigation concluded
the ketamine did not come
from the infusion therapy,
as his last treatment
was a week and a half
before his death,
and the drug clears the system
in a few hours.
Ketamine is
a controlled substance.
It is a substance that can have
legitimate purposes,
but it has
to be administered
by trained professionals.
Unfortunately, it is a drug
that is also abused.
Mr. Perry fell back
into addiction.
And he began searching
for additional sources
of ketamine.
DAVID:
If you're an addict,
anything that can be abused
can sort of wake that beast up.
WILKER:
Hollywood is full of enablers,
and I don't think
that's unique to Hollywood.
I think any industry
where there's
a lot of money to be made,
you're always
gonna find enablers.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
There's a whole plethora
of criminal activity.
They supplied Matthew Perry
with large amounts of ketamine,
in exchange
for large sums of money.
That really hit me.
Out of anything.
That they'd really preyed
on somebody vulnerable.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC ENDS]
[SLOW DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
[POLICE SIREN WAILS]
FEIFEL:
One could describe
the current state of ketamine
access and treatment
as a Wild West.
Because there's
a great demand for ketamine,
there's a lot of physicians
making decisions to provide
ketamine because they can.
So we see
a lot of physicians
suddenly open up
these clinics.
I think the main thing that
can make ketamine dangerous
is its unsupervised use.
That's where we have
a dangerous situation.
FEMALE REPORTER:
This morning new details
on potential charges
in the death of actor,
Matthew Perry.
A law enforcement source
familiar with the investigation
into how he obtained
the ketamine
that contributed to his death,
tellingNBC News
several people
who supplied Perry
with the drug
could face federal charges.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
KADING:
Once a responsible doctor
realizes
a person is abusing drugs,
he'll no longer prescribe it.
So then they have to go find
another more friendly doctor
until they find somebody
with no consideration
or concern
about responsibilities.
ESTRADA:
Kenneth Iwamasa allegedly
began obtaining ketamine
from these two medical doctors,
Dr. Salvador Plasencia
and Dr. Mark Chavez.
Ketamine is
a Schedule 3 narcotic,
under the
Controlled Substance Act.
And a Schedule 3 narcotic
has to be prescribed,
for it to be
legally distributed.
KADING:
According to the indictment,
Dr. Chavez creates
prescriptions for the ketamine,
and he's distributing down
to Dr. Plasencia.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC STOPS PLAYING]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
When you read some of
the communications
that law enforcement
was able to get its hands on,
it's sickening actually.
ESTRADA:
Dr. Plasencia was very clear
in text messages
and other messages
in saying that he saw this
as an opportunity
to make a lot of money
in a short amount of time,
and he allegedly
did just that.
He sets the prices,
which were exorbitant.
And the indictment
contains evidence
that he sold
over about a month,
20 vials of ketamine
to Mr. Perry
in exchange for $55,000.
They supplied Matthew Perry
with large amounts of ketamine,
in exchange for large sums
of money,
charging Perry $2000
for a vial that cost Dr. Chavez
approximately $12.
ESTRADA:
They even talked
about the fact
that this wasn't the right way
to administer ketamine,
yet this was
a golden opportunity
to make money.
And at one point, Dr. Plasencia
writes to Dr. Chavez
quote, "I wonder how much
this moron will pay."
There was just such a degree
of almost disdain
for Mr. Perry.
And these are
medical doctors.
FORRESTER:
The text messages,
I think that really hit me
out of anything.
You know, that they'd really
preyed on somebody vulnerable.
DAVID:
The demeaning way
they talked about him,
it's sort of hard to believe
these are human beings
walking among us.
KADING:
According to the indictment,
these individuals were using
the app called Signal,
which is an encrypted app.
Oftentimes people think
that because it's
an encrypted app
that law enforcement
can't access it,
but it's not the case.
Oftentimes law enforcement's
ahead of the game.
Within the indictment,
there's a whole plethora
of criminal activity.
Dr. Plasencia
even teaches Mr. Iwamasa
how to do the injections.
Allegedly,
you have Dr. Plasencia
providing ketamine
to a live-in assistant,
who has no medical training
whatsoever.
And that live-in assistant
is administering ketamine
to a person
whose risk factors
are through the roof.
KADING:
So you've got doctor,
doctor, assistant.
But when it reached a point
where Mr. Perry's request
or demand for more ketamine
became so great
that Dr. Plasencia
and Dr. Chavez
could not provide
that amount,
they then reached out
to an intermediary
who was this Mr. Fleming.
ESTRADA:
Erik Fleming had
no medical training,
so the risk factors
are through the roof.
It sounds murkier
with the assistant
and the doctors,
and now a go-between person.
KADING:
Mr. Fleming in turn
went to reach out
to an individual
named Jasveen Sangha,
known as the Ketamine Queen.
ESTRADA:
We searched her house.
She was
a massive source of drugs.
DAVID:
This was something bigger
than people
ever expected it to be.
And when I heard
the details,
I was, like everybody else,
horrified.
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
FORRESTER:
There's nothing
like Hollywood.
Fame is hugely important
to a lot of people
that come here.
But a lot of people
come here to make it.
But I genuinely don't think
a lot of people realize
what fame really is.
DAVID:
I do think people
seek fame and celebrity
to fill a hole
that that's never going to fill.
WOMAN: Matthew!
MAN: Matthew! How are you?
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
Matthew Perry writes
very vividly
about seeking fame.
But wanting fame
to stop his own issues.
Fame, fame, fame,
that's all we wanted.
It was all we cared about
because, at least for me,
I figured being famous
would fill the great hole
that was endlessly growing
inside of me.
I think one of the most
dangerous parts of success,
whether that's wealth
or fame or both,
is that all
of your worst instincts
are going to be catered to,
and that is
a really dangerous place to be.
O'NEILL:
I think that people feel
that stars can do no wrong,
and they love
to build them up
as much they love
to tear them down.
It's an impossible place
to be.
I remember when Matthew was
first starting to go public
about some of the issues,
and yeah,
I was terribly proud of him.
It's hard,
especially in this town
to admit
you've got any problem,
that there's anything wrong,
and I thought
it was very brave of him
and I was
very, very proud of him.
He did seem to really want
to help other people
that were also struggling.
You were in treatment
for something--
Yeah.
Substance abuse?
Well, it actually happened
during this movie,
while we were shooting
this movie,
it's been
pretty well-documented
that I had some problems
with alcoholism and addiction,
and before this movie was over,
I left the film to go get help.
You know, and it's kind of--
LETTERMAN:
How are you doing now?
I'm doing great.
I'm doing really great. Thanks.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
My true message is
that, you know,
if you face this,
then sobriety is possible,
and I've never been
happier in my life.
LETTERMAN:
Good for you,
that's a lovely thing.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
MAN:
Matthew! Suprise! Up top!
FAIRCHILD:
He was trying to help people
even when he was struggling,
even in the midst
of his own pain,
he tried to reach out
to other people.
MAN:
Matthew,
right here please.
All the way over here.
there you go. Thank you.
And that smile, Mat.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
The night I went into AA,
Matthew brought me in.
Um, the whole first year
I was sober
we went
to meetings together,
and he was such a great...
I got to tell him this,
he was just, as a sober person,
um, he was so caring
and giving and wise
and he totally helped me,
um, get sober.
[SAD MUSIC PLAYING]
I hadn't been there
for anyone for so long,
my addiction
being my best friend
and my evil friend
and my punisher
and my lover, all in one.
My big terrible thing.
I sensed an awakening,
that I was here for more
than this big terrible thing.
That I could help people,
love them,
because of how far
down the scale I had gone,
I had a story to tell,
a story
that can really help people.
And helping others
had become the answer for me.
He got a lot
of personal satisfaction,
pleasure, almost,
from helping other people,
loved helping people,
loved the feeling
that it brought him.
It's lovely to have you.
I've been looking forward
to this.
Congratulations on the book.
I really enjoyed it.
How's the process been
of just talking about it?
PERRY:
It's been, you know,
what it's all about
is helping people,
and I've heard already
five stories of people
that read the book
and checked into treatment.
[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
FORRESTER:
I first started
reporting on Matthew Perry
around the time
of the Friendsreunion,
rumors were circulating.
Everyone was very excited.
KUDROW: Matty! Hi.
PERRY: Hi.
KUDROW:
Could you be any later?
FORRESTER:
Matthew Perry
is a little more low-key
and he was more removed
from the rest of the cast.
PERRY: How are you, buddy?
Good.
Look at all of us.
LEBLANC: Isn't it crazy?
WILKER:
He may not have
looked great.
He may have seemed
a little off,
but the fact
that he was there,
and he was
with all those guys.
The cast of Friends,
everybody!
[CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
WILKER:
It was like
when your favorite rock band
gets back together,
"Oh, thank God."
You know,
that's that feeling
that all these people
are together.
To me, I felt like
I was gonna die
if they didn't laugh.
And it's not healthy,
for sure.
But I would sometimes say a line
and they wouldn't laugh
and I would sweat,
and just, like,
go into convulsions.
He'd not been seen on screen
in many years.
He was obviously
somebody vulnerable.
DAVID:
They say that no matter
how long you're stopped,
your disease
is doing push-ups.
You can have 30 years
of having done
everything right
and if one day
it occurs to you
that this would be
okay to do,
and you do it,
it can kill you.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
ESTRADA:
Allegedly, Dr. Plasencia
would arrange with Mr. Perry
different locations to meet
to provide the ketamine.
On one occasion, they meet
in a parking lot in Long Beach,
and he administers
in the back of a car, ketamine.
Doctors are not supposed
to inject people
in the back of parking lots.
A trained doctor
like Dr. Plasencia
knew much better.
One of the overall themes
of our indictment
is that all these defendants
should've known better.
They were taking advantage
of an individual
and letting their greed
drive them
to endanger Mr. Perry's life.
FEIFEL:
What should've happened
at that point was,
first of all, been
monitoring his vitals,
but more importantly,
they should've made sure
that he was not near anything
that could cause him harm.
When you're not in control
of your body,
you're at risk
of doing harm to yourself.
FORRESTER:
These are the parts
of the story
that then become
even more disturbing.
Someone who's seen him
nearly die
and then gone back
and preyed on him for money.
Dr. Plasencia
had numerous red flags
that were flashing
in front of him.
The allegations show
he's providing the ketamine,
he's injecting Mr. Perry
in parking lots.
He's seeing
Mr. Perry freeze up.
At one point,
he tells another patient
that Mr. Perry is quote,
"spiraling out of control,"
but he does nothing about this.
He allegedly continues
to provide ketamine
to Mr. Perry's
live-in assistant,
which is then going
to be administered to Mr. Perry.
KADING:
According to the indictment,
it reached a point where
Mr. Perry's
request or demand
for the ketamine
became so great
Dr. Plasencia could
not provide that amount,
and then they go beyond
that scope
to another distributor.
That's when they encountered
Erik Fleming,
and the Ketamine Queen,
Jasveen Sangha.
FEMALE REPORTER:
Jasveen Sangha
aka The Ketamine Queen
is accused of providing
the doses of the drug
that actually killed Perry.
According to the indictment,
Sangha was
an illegal narcotics dealer
in the North Hollywood area.
And she was distributing
a variety of different drugs,
one of them being ketamine.
The evidence showed she sold
about 50 vials of ketamine
over two weeks for about
$11,000 to Mr. Perry.
Well, you may have heard
the nickname Ketamine Queen
in association
with the overdose death
of actor Matthew Perry.
Now another family
is coming forward.
They say that she sold the drugs
that killed their loved one.
ESTRADA:
This case involved
not just one, but two victims.
Certainly, the well-known victim
of Matthew Perry
but also Cody McClury
who we can't forget.
In 2019, Jasveen Sangha
allegedly sold ketamine
to Cody McClury,
who died as a result.
Then, one
of Cody's family members
sent a message to Ms. Sangha
telling her
her brother had died
as a result of ketamine.
KADING:
Law enforcement now sees
that there's this history.
In fact, they discover
that after the other death,
is where Jasveen had Googled
whether or not ketamine
could cause somebody's death.
So it goes to show this kind
of consciousness of guilt.
[POLICE SIREN BLARING]
We searched her house.
It wasn't just ketamine.
We found cocaine,
we found bottles of Xanax,
thousands
of methamphetamine pills.
We found drug ledgers,
scales.
The evidence showed she was
a massive source of drugs.
MALE REPORTER:
When she was growing up
in the posh L.A. suburb
of Calabasas, California,
home of the Kardashians,
she went
to one of the UC colleges,
she went to grad school
in England,
came back with an MBA.
But she kind of went astray.
MALE REPORTER 2:
Her high-end lifestyle
also included private jets,
vacations
at oceanfront resorts
and posing with celebrities.
KADING:
When you're dealing drugs
at the level
that Jasveen
supposedly was,
it's very lucrative,
and so you've got this rather
luxurious lifestyle.
MALE REPORTER 3:
Sangha, who earned
the reputation in Los Angeles
as the Ketamine Queen
could get life in prison.
Authorities say she ran
a narcotics operation
from her North Hollywood
apartment,
and had a reputation
as a celebrity drug dealer,
boasting of relationships
with celebrities
and lavish vacations
across the globe.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
KADING:
Mr. Perry brought
this whole thing
to the forefront
because of his
celebrity status.
If Mr. Perry
had not been who he was,
this may not have gotten
the attention it needed
in order to expose those people.
[SEAGULL CRYING]
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
Something was
not quite right,
and the telltale signs
were there.
We did hear that he liked
to get high in the jacuzzi.
He loved
to call himself Mattman.
He was a huge fan of Batman,
and he nicknamed himself
Mattman.
He felt powerful,
he felt invincible,
and when he was high,
those are the sort
of things he would say.
People who've been following
Matthew Perry for years,
they probably sensed
that this was strange.
So as we get
to those final days,
he's seeking more ketamine.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
Obviously it spiraled
out of control.
Kenneth admitted
Matthew had asked him
to shoot him up with a big one
and then he went off
to run errands.
He was the one that delivered
the fatal dose.
[STRANGE MUSIC PLAYING]
He just seemed like
that funny friend
that everybody has
when he played Chandler,
so I guess I did kind of
know him just a little bit,
it felt like, so yeah.
You don't know him,
but you feel like
you do know him.
[CHUCKLING] Because it's...
It was really heartbreaking.
It's weird. We're strangers,
so to be so sad about someone
you don't really know,
you know, in person,
that's how much
of an impact...
You know, I feel like...
I wish...
I wonder if he knew
that he meant that much
to so many people.
FEIFEL:
My understanding was
he ended up drowning.
If anyone was present,
they should not have let him
be anywhere near a tub
or a pool nearby.
He just lived to laugh,
and every night he would...
He was like a genius.
He would weave...
He would start to weave
comedy threads together.
Most nights
you spent with Matt,
you were crying laughing
by the end.
Um, I really loved him.
A lot of us
who were close to him
felt like we lost him
to drugs and alcohol,
um, a long time ago.
It's one of the terrible things
about this disease,
it just takes away
the person you love.
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
After Mr. Perry died,
you have Jasveen Sangha
allegedly telling Mr. Fleming,
"Delete all our messages."
They knew
that what they did was wrong,
but they did it anyways
and recklessly caused
Mr. Perry's death.
Clearly, there's a consciousness
of guilt taking place.
That's very powerful,
because if you're working
legitimately,
you don't need to go back
and cover your tracks.
You know, you can just see
there in the indictment,
these people were like,
"Holy shit, we're caught."
And so the house of cards
came crumbling down.
We all knew
that arrests were coming.
Obviously the police had been
investigating for a long time.
We knew people
were being questioned,
that it seemed like
a drug ring.
Um, we just didn't know
who exactly
was going to be arrested.
The two lead defendants
in this case
are defendants
Salvador Plasencia
and defendant
Jasveen Sangha.
First, I'll talk about
defendant Plasencia.
Defendant Plasencia was
a medical doctor.
He worked
with another medical doctor,
defendant Mark Chavez,
to obtain ketamine.
He then worked
with Mr. Perry's
live-in assistant,
defendant Kenneth Iwamasa,
to distribute that ketamine
to Mr. Perry.
I am not going to have very
many comments for you today.
Main reason is
because there are
other defendants
in this case.
But he's incredibly remorseful
that, at the end of the day,
someone who was trying
to seek treatment died.
ESTRADA:
The defendants
have all been charged.
Three of them
have pled guilty
and will be cooperating.
They wanna mitigate
the amount of years
that they're likely to do
by cooperating
with the government.
Two remain,
the two main defendants,
Dr. Plasencia
and Ms. Jasveen Sangha.
My client never met
Matthew Perry,
has nothing to do
with Matthew Perry
and all
the supposed rumors otherwise
are just that, urban legends.
This theory,
that the so-called fatal dose
is somehow linked to my client,
is absolute garbage.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
Dr. Plasencia was trying
to help Mr. Perry
and provide medical care
that would ease his problems,
and Dr. Plasencia wasn't aware
that Mr. Perry
was obtaining the ketamine
from other individuals
initially,
and when it became apparent
that there might be
something else going on,
he wasn't providing any ketamine
to Mr. Perry at that point.
It's very important for us
to bring charges
in those instances.
We brought charges
not just involving Mr. Perry
but also Mr. McClury's death
as well.
This case
was very important to us,
to bring justice to the family,
it's important
they be given closure.
In the past, we used to call
these things overdose deaths
and do more blaming
of the victim.
We don't do that anymore.
We blame the drug dealers,
the drug sellers,
for taking advantage
of those addiction issues
to cause death
or serious injury.
And that's why
we bring these cases.
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
The big takeaway
from this case
is that when people involved
in reckless activity,
whether that be drug dealing
or other activity,
cause the death of others,
there needs to be
accountability.
[POLICE SIREN BLARING]
[SAD MUSIC PLAYING]
He was such
a, like, heartwarming,
kind, uplifting person,
that I feel like everyone
could just turn on the TV
and feel immediately comforted
by him.
I lost a friend
in multiple ways,
and what's amazing
is the outpouring
from the fans,
who lost a friend
of theirs too.
And I hope wherever he is,
he feels it.
WOMAN:
The show is so great because
you don't even know them
but you feel like
they're your friends.
And so he was
my favorite one
because he just made me
laugh all the time,
so this is not easy.
[CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY]
FORRESTER:
It's so incredibly sad
that this story
has become so big.
We're talking
about ketamine,
we're talking
about drug rings in L.A.,
you know, and how medical
malpractice is everywhere,
that we're really forgetting
this story is about one man,
and one man who simply
wanted to be happy.
People are just forgetting
who he was
and that he will be missed.
KAUFFMAN:
If it doesn't stop,
we're gonna lose
so many people.
He made it a big focus
of his life
to help other people.
It's clearly
the work of your heart,
And for him.
What he taught the world
is no amount of money
will cure an addict.
It needs something else,
and that's
what we're trying to do.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
O'NEILL:
I think the greatest gift
that Matthew offered is
sharing his personal struggle
with pain and addiction.
And I feel like
he did that
because he really did
wanna help a lot of people.
COX:
I'm so thankful
I got to work
so closely with him
for so many years.
He visits me a lot,
if we believe in that.
I know
you're a spiritual person,
so you still feel
his presence?
Yeah, I sense
Matthew's around, for sure.
[HOPEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
FORRESTER:
I think Matthew Perry's legacy
is split in two parts.
On one side,
his legacy will be
this is where
you don't want to end up,
you know, if you're struggling
with drug abuse.
And then I think
on the flip side,
he's trapped in time almost
as Chandler Bing.
Matthew Perry's the funniest
person in the whole world.
On the planet.
Thank you very much
You know what?
I mean, that, actually.
I was saying it as a joke,
and I absolutely mean it.
We all laugh
at Matthew's jokes
There are very few things
in entertainment
that are as ubiquitous
as Friends.
MAN:
Are you really
actually friends?
Yes, for the last time,
we are all actually
good friends.
Thank you.
Thanks very much.
FAIRCHILD:
The way the actors
and the characters
and the ensemble
touch people's lives,
made people feel
like they had friends
even if they were alone
and feeling lonely.
Hey.
BOTH:
Hi.
[GASPING]
Hey, so, what is
the big surprise?
[GASPING]
My God.
Okay, okay,
awkward question.
The hospital knows
you took two, right?
Yes, it's twins.
In the show, we see him
finally settle down with Monica,
and I think
they end up having twins.
I think there is a sense of
he never got
Chandler Bing's happy ending.
[SAD MUSIC PLAYING]
[CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
FAIRCHILD:
It was always interesting
to watch Matthew.
He didn't seem
like he was acting.
It seemed like
he really was Chandler.
[YELLING, THEN GASPING]
Oh!
All right, you gotta give me
some of your piece.
Oh, ho, ho, no. No.
No switching, no sharing.
Don't come crying to me.
[LAUGHING SARCASTICALLY]
I may just sit here
and have my cake
all day.
Just sit here in the hallway
and eat my--
Matthew's legacy
is always going to be
the friendship that he
and the cast represented
to people
all over the world.
His legacy will be one
of hope and joy
and friendship and love.
[HOPEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]