Matthew Perry’s mother believes Friends star had a ‘premonition’ about his death, says report

Matthew Perry’s mother has said the late Friends star appeared to have a “premonition” about his death during one of the last times they spoke.

Perry, who played Chandler Bing in the classic US sitcom, was found unresponsive in the swimming pool at his home in Los Angeles on 28 October 2023.

A post mortem later found he died from the “acute effects of ketamine”.

His mother Suzanne Morrison has said that in the last days she spent with her son, there was an “inevitability to what was going to happen next to him, and he felt it very strongly”.

In an interview with the Today show in the US nearly a year after Perry’s death, Ms Morrison added: “He said ‘I’m not frightened anymore’… And it worried me.”

Ms Morrison also said her son was showing her “one of his new houses” when he came up to her and said “I love you so much, I’m so happy to be with you now”.

“It was almost as though it was a premonition or something.

“I didn’t think about it at the time, but I thought, ‘How long has it been since we’ve had a conversation like that?’ It’s been years,” she said.

Perry was the only child of Ms Morrison and her ex-husband the actor John Bennett Perry.

An autopsy report, obtained by Sky News’ US partner network NBC News in December 2023, detailed that ketamine likely resulted in Perry becoming unconscious and drowning.

The report also said his existing coronary artery disease exacerbated the ketamine’s effects on his heart.

Ketamine is a sedative that can be used as a recreational drug, as well as to treat depression.

A report from the Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner stated that Perry was “receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety” with the most recent dose reportedly taken one and a half weeks before his death.

The report continued: “The ketamine in his system at death could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine’s half-life is three-to-four hours, or less.”

Perry was open about his battle with substance abuse and addiction, and set up a sober living facility for men with similar issues.

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Doctor facing up to a decade in prison

Five people have been charged in connection with Perry’s death – with three of them having pleaded guilty and two set to face trial.

Dr Mark Chavez has admitted a charge of conspiring to distribute ketamine and faces up to 10 years in prison, while Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.

It comes as Eric Fleming, an acquaintance of the actor, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.

Meanwhile, Dr Salvador Plasencia, known as “Dr P”, is set to face a trial on 4 March next year after allegedly using Iwamasa to distribute ketamine to the actor.

He will stand trial alongside Jasveen Sangha, referred to in documents as the “Ketamine Queen”, who allegedly sold ketamine to Perry for $11,000 (£8,553) in cash.