Suzanne Morrison, mother of the late Friends star Matthew Perry, has disclosed that her son had a chilling premonition of his own death before he tragically died at 54 on October 28, 2023, from the “acute effects of ketamine“.
The actor, who struggled with depression and anxiety, became hooked on intravenous ketamine in the previous autumn. Speaking to NBC’s Today show, Ms Morrison recounted how “almost a year ago”, Perry had a feeling he would not live much longer.
She said: “He came up to me and said, ‘I love you so much and I’m so happy to be with you now’.
“It was almost as though it was a premonition or something. I didn’t think about it at the time but I thought, ‘How long has it been since we’ve had a conversation like that. It’s been years’
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“I think there was something… there was an inevitability 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.”
A comprehensive interview with Ms Morrison is set to air on the show on Monday, marking the first anniversary of Perry’s passing, reports the Mirror. Earlier in the month, Dr. Mark Chavez of San Diego confessed to supplying ketamine to Dr. Salvador Plasencia of Santa Monica after diverting it from his former clinic.
The 54 year old has formally pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute the surgical anaesthetic ketamine during a plea hearing. Plasencia is set for trial on March 4 next year, accused of using Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa to supply ketamine to the actor from September to October last year for $55,000 (£43,000).
Jasveen Sangha – dubbed “the ketamine queen” by authorities – will also face trial amid allegations she sold ketamine to Perry for $11,000 (£8,553) in cash. Both Sangha and Plasencia have entered not guilty pleas to the drug charges.
Iwamasa admitted guilt on August 7 to conspiring to distribute ketamine causing death, confessing to “repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training”, while Erik Fleming pleaded guilty on August 8 to conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Perry, who became a household name as the witty Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom Friends, was mourned by his former co-stars Matt Le Blanc, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, and Lisa Kudrow, who all shared heartfelt tributes after his passing last year.
Earlier in the year, Jennifer Aniston was visibly moved as she reminisced about the enduring impact of Friends, nearly 30 years after its debut, particularly following the death of Matthew Perry. The American actress, renowned for her role as Rachel Green, got teary during a segment on Variety’s Actors On Actors series hosted on YouTube with Abbott Elementary’s Quinta Brunson back in June.
“Oh, god, don’t make me cry,” Aniston said, responding to an unseen prompter who urged Brunson, 34, to question Aniston about the iconic sitcom. Brunson reassured Aniston that they didn’t need to delve into the subject as Aniston dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
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“Sorry, I just started thinking about … I’m okay, it’s happy tears,” she managed to say. Aniston reflected on the show’s age, saying, “It’s so strange to even think that it’s 30 years old,” referencing the airing of Friends’ first episode in 1994.
Recalling memories from the past she added, “I remember the day that it was going to premiere on television, on NBC. Me and Matthew Perry were having lunch somewhere, and we knew Lisa was getting her hair coloured.”
She continued with a touch of nostalgia, “So we ran into the hair salon, and I snuck up – she was in the sink hair bowl – and I took the nozzle from the guy that was supposed to be doing it and just started washing her hair. It definitely flew out of control, and that was unfortunate.
“But the excitement we had, and it feels like yesterday. The fact that it has had this long, wonderful life and it still means a lot to people is one of the greatest gifts I think all five of us – all six of us – we never could imagine.”
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