Matthew Perry was given 27 shots of ketamine before death, documentary claims

A new documentary has exposed Matthew Perry’s last moments, exposing the shocking amount of drugs the beloved Friends star was given before his death.

Matthew Perry was given a total of 27 ketamine shots in his three final days before his tragic death at age 54 in October 2023, a new documentary has revealed.

The beloved “Friends” actor’s final moments were laid bare by US Attorney Martin Estrada in a new Peacock documentary, titled “Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy.”

According to the autopsy report, Perry’s death was chalked up to “acute effects of ketamine” and the manner was accidental drowning.

The “Whole Nine Yards” actor had been candid about his struggles with addiction and substance abuse, which the documentary covers.

In the documentary, Estrada — who oversaw the case into Perry’s death before stepping down in January — said that the late actor had received 27 doses of ketamine from “people who should have known much better.”

Perry at a Broadway opening in April 2017. Picture: Noam Galai / Getty

“Dr Plasencia was very clear in text messages… 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,” Estrada says in the new documentary.

The documentary also covers the five arrests that were made in Perry’s death probe. Some of them are still awaiting trial, such as doctors Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia and Jasveen Sangha, who has been dubbed the “Ketamine Queen.”

Both of them pleaded not guilty to the crime and US District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett has set the pair’s joint trial for March 4, 2025.

Additional on-screen text explains, “This program examines a legal case that has yet to be tried for all defendants. Statements about actions or defendants are alleged until determined by a court of law.”

WHY FRIENDS STARS ABSENT FROM PERRY DOCO

The director of the new documentary has revealed why he didn’t interview the actor’s co-stars from the hit TV-series.

“I don’t think it’s too soon for a [documentary]. I think the impact of his death is fresh,” he told The New York Post.

Viewers will notice that Perry’s Friends co-stars David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc aren’t included on screen to give their perspectives, but “understandably, they were reluctant to go on a documentary about Matthew at this point. Maybe many years down the line … We understand their decision not to appear,” Palumbo said.

The friends cast members with Perry (top right). Picture: Instagram

He added: “Many of us remember getting that news that he had died, and then eventually getting the details [that gave] sort of waves of anger … I feel like people still have him in their hearts and minds. As the facts began to come out about what happened to him, how he died and what possibly could have been a ring of people that sort of facilitated his death, I was really upset.”

Fans paid tribute to the late actor outside the Friends building in New York City after his death. Picture: John Lamparski / Getty

The Friends actor had been candid about his struggles with addiction and substance abuse, which the documentary covers.

The documentary, however, does include a sit-down with Morgan Fairchild, who played his character Chandler’s mother on Friends.

“He was someone who wanted to be remembered, not so much for his time on Friends but for how he has been able to help other people with addiction issues. I think that that’s still the case to this day, even after his death,” said Palumbo.

“I think he will have a legacy of helping other people. And Morgan [Fairchild] thought that was really the most important thing to communicate.”

Courteney Cox shared a tribute to Perry on the anniversary of his death in 2024. Picture: Instagram

“There were a lot of details about this case that were very surprising to me in many ways because, obviously, it’s about the underbelly of Hollywood,” said Palumbo.

Jasveen Sangha has been dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” of Los Angeles. Picture: X

Dr Mark Chavez outside a federal LA court in 2024. Picture: Patrick T Fallon / AFP

“This is something that I think a lot of people have seen before — Hollywood celebrities who have died tragically. But in this case, there were a lot of complications … One of them being the fact that his personal assistant had worked for him for many years was the person who actually helped him get some of the ketamine over those final weeks, and actually injected him with the fatal injection,” he alleged.

Perry’s former personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, pleaded guilty on August 7, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.

Perry’s former assistant Kenneth Iwamasa. Picture: Linkedin

Palumbo added that the doctors who allegedly facilitated the prescriptions “that eventually made their way to Perry — they should have known better. Not just that they were treating any patient, but they were treating someone who had addiction issues, because he was so well-known and his addiction issues were so well-known … what they did was pretty consciously wrong.”

“That shady black market in Hollywood was something that was really interesting and disturbing to examine,” he added.

This story was originally published on the New York Post.

Originally published as Matthew Perry was given 27 shots of ketamine before death, documentary claims