Matthew Perry Death Indictments Have 'Brought Back a Lot of Feelings' for His Close Friends: 'Sad That He Was Surrounded by Enablers' (Exclusive Source)

Mar. 15, 2025

Matthew Perry.Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty

Last week’s criminal charges in connection with Matthew Perry’s fatal drug overdose have “brought back a lot of feelings” for his closest friends, a source exclusively tells PEOPLE.

TheFriendsactor, 54, was founddead face down in his jacuzzion Oct. 29, 2023. A medical examiner determined the actor died of “acute effects of ketamine.”

The U.S. Attorney’s officecharged five individualsin connection with Perry’s death last Thursday, Aug. 15: two doctors, a womanknown as the “Ketamine Queen"who allegedly owned a “stash house” and supplied the illicit drugs, an alleged distributor, and Perry’s personal assistant, who said in his plea agreement that Perry told him to"shoot me up with a big one"hours before his death. The assistant laterdiscovered Perry’s lifeless body.

Matthew Perry at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2012.Kevin Winter/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty

For those who had been close to Perry, “the arrests have brought back a lot of feelings,” says the source. “Matthew did have true friends that loved and cared about him. They would have all tried to help him if he’d reached out.”

“These defendants cared more about profiting off of Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said Aug. 15,when announcing the charges. “Drug dealers selling dangerous substances are gambling with other people’s lives over greed. This case, along with our many other prosecutions of drug-dealers who cause death, send a clear message that we will hold drug-dealers accountable for the deaths they cause.”

Perry had beenopen about his battles with addictionand recovered before he relapsed months prior to his death, per the DOJ. With 15 previous stints in rehab, hetold PEOPLE in September 2022that he’d mostly been sober since 2001 “with about 60 or 70 little mishaps over the years.”

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The actor, who also starred in films includingFools Rush In,Three to TangoandThe Whole Nine Yards, would’ve turned 55 on Monday, Aug. 19.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

source: people.com