Matthew Perry died in October of 2023, and both his loved ones and fans are still processing the late actor's loss. Perry's family have been making headlines lately, with his mother writing an emotional letter for the courts about his assistant Kenneth Iwamasa's alleged role in his death. Most recently, statements from the Friends actor's sisters have also made their way online, echoing similar sentiments.
Perry drowned in his hot tub, and was found with ketamine in his system at the time of his passing. His family is blaming Iwamasa for procuring and administering the drug in the midst of a presumed relapse. Case in point: victim impact statements wermade by Perry's sisters for the court, with Madeline Morrison's reading (via Page Six):
He had injected my brother with a lethal dose of ketamine and left him in a hot tub to die. It is difficult to put into words the sense of betrayal I felt when I found out what Kenny had done.
Kenneth Iwamasa reportedly worked for Matthew Perry for 25 years, and the actor's family seemingly trusted in him to help maintain the actor's sobriety. That seems to be a key factor to their feelings of betrayal, especially since they believe he gave the actor a lethal amount of ketamine shortly before his death. Madeline's statement shares more about how the family is feeling in the midst of his tragedy, continuing:
Everything I believed about the day he died — everything Kenny told us — was a lie. The idea that someone my brother considered family could betray him in such an unimaginable way is something I never could have conceived.
Kenneth Iwamasa is one of five people who was convicted over the death of Matthew Perry, and these victim impact statements were read in court presumably in hopes of a severe sentencing. Madeline also took umbrage with his behavior during the funeral, tarnishing their "final memories of saying goodbye.”
The late actor's other sister Caitlin Morrison also issued her own statement, where she revealed that the family will never know whether or not Perry's deadly use of ketamine was "by accident" or not. An excerpt from her letter reads:
But I know that when Kenny left the house, he was doing one of two things. He was either escaping from something he knew he had done or he was willfully abandoning a vulnerable person in a dangerous situation.
Clearly the years that have passed since Matthew Perry's death have not made the situation any less painful for his family. Their victim impact statements show just how much hurt and anger are still felt, and why they're hoping that justice is serviced for those who were convicted, especially Iwamasa. We'll just have to see how sentencing ultimately plays out.
Friends is streaming in its entirety on HBO Max for those who want to re-watch Perry's truly iconic tenure as Chandler Bing. Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this difficult time.
