A year after Matthew Perry was confirmed dead from complications due to a ketamine overdose, his stepfather Keith Morrison says Perry hated his appearance and felt undeserving of the love he received before his passing. Keith recalled how much Perry hated his appearance, as he gained significant weight in his later years.
Perry always felt disappointed whenever news and gossip outlets caught him on camera looking bloated. Although Perry constantly felt less than enough, the positive reactions to his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing boosted his self-confidence.
Matthew Perry felt like a failure with pictures of him looking ‘bloated’ before his death
How Matthew Perry turned up at the Friends TV reunion bloated after a two-day bender sparked by his split from the fiancee he hurled a coffee table at. https://t.co/hE0qQJinvH pic.twitter.com/urPTOjqdAn
— PerthNow (@perthnow) January 13, 2024
Keith admitted that Perry felt like a failure a lot of the time; however, things seemed to look up after his book tour. His stepfather felt hopeful that he had finally gotten over self-sabotage, as he watched Perry express shock at how much people liked him.
He also noted that Perry released the memoir as a form of accountability; he believed putting himself out there would make people keep an eye out for him and remind him of his resolve. Sadly, this did not work out as the sitcom icon relapsed into drug use, with heavy amounts of ketamine found in his system at the time of his passing.
Matthew Perry predicted his death to family
Keith recalled Perry’s eerie remark about death, where he publicly mentioned that he would not be shocked if he died from addiction. Unknown to his loved ones, who assumed he was close to sobriety as portrayed in his 2022 release, Perry was still getting drug supplies from an undercover ring, which was recently exposed.
To honor Perry’s passing, his family had committed to spreading awareness about addiction. His half-sister, Caitlin, is the executive director of the Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada, which, in collaboration with the U.S’ Matthew Perry Foundation in the U.S., provides support for affected persons.