Matthew Perry’s addiction: Friends star dies in apparent drowning at home

Matthew Perry has been remembered for the brave and honest way he spoke about his addiction, after his shocking death aged 54.

Matthew Perry has been remembered as an advocate for addictions treatment and recovery. Picture: Chris Delmas / AFP

Matthew Perry has been remembered for his bravery and honesty while speaking about his addictions to alcohol and other drugs after his shocking death aged 54.

The Friends star was found dead at his home in Los Angeles just after 4pm local time on Saturday, according to authorities.

It’s understood Perry was found unresponsive in his jacuzzi by an assistant. His official cause of death has not yet been released.

Perry has been remembered for his advocacy in sobriety and drugs reform, after a decades-long struggle with substance abuse.

Last year, he released a candid memoir titled Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, in which he estimated he had spent more than half his life in addiction treatment centres and $9 million on his fight to get sober.

“Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead,” he began the heart-wrenching book.

Perry recalled his difficulties with alcoholism, including drinking heavily through the first two seasons of Friends, before becoming addicted to painkillers following a jet skiing accident in the mid-1990s.

He narrowly escaped death in 2019 after his colon burst due to opioid overuse.

Perry described his loved ones’ terror as they raced to hospital, where they were told he had just a two per cent chance of surviving the night.

He spent two weeks in a coma, five months in hospital and nine months using a colostomy bag.

He was candid about his struggles with addiction. Picture: Supplied

Just two years later, Perry suffered another brush with death at a rehab facility in Switzerland. Doctors administered a sedative which interacted with the opioids already in his system.

Perry was resuscitated but had eight ribs broken in the process, forcing him to pull out of a role alongside Meryl Streep in the film ”, a lost opportunity he described as “heartbreaking”.

In an interview with the New York Times in 2002, Perry alluded to the entanglement between his addictions and fame.

“I was a guy who wanted to become famous,” he told the publication.

“There was steam coming out of my ears, I wanted to be famous so badly. You want the attention, you want the bucks, and you want the best seat in the restaurant. I didn’t think what the repercussions would be.”

Later, he would write: “You have to get famous to know that it’s not the answer. And nobody who is not famous will ever truly believe that.”

Perry (centre right) played Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom Friends. Picture: Getty Images

In recent years, Perry often spoke about how proud he was of his work in addiction recovery, which included inspiring others to get sober.

In 2015, he was honoured by Phoenix House, a non-profit drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.

“I shouldn’t be getting an award; Phoenix House should be getting an award,” he told The Hollywood Reporter that year.

“Phoenix House was kind enough to open their doors about four months ago when I went on a tour of [the Lake View Terrace facility] … Getting sober is a really hard thing to do, and I saw hope on the faces of the kids.”

He added: “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life and a lot of wonderful accolades, but the best thing about me is that if an alcoholic comes up to me and says, ‘Will you help me stop drinking?’ I will say, ‘Yes. I know how to do that’.”

Adele, who stopped drinking earlier this year after giving several interviews about her tumultuous relationship with alcohol, paused her Las Vegas concert on Saturday night to share a tribute to Perry.

“He was so open with his struggles with addiction and sobriety, which I think is incredibly, incredibly brave. I just want to say how much I love what he did for all of us,” the singer shared.

Originally published as Matthew Perry’s addiction: Friends star dies in apparent drowning at home