Matthew Perry had no intention of dying. What is clear from reading the official documents of the criminal investigation that followed his death is that, when it finally came to an end, he was recklessly and habitually seeking oblivion through narcotics.
The day of his death, October 28, 2023, was to be like the four days preceding it: a day on which he was injected with ketamine, a “dissociative” drug approved by the FDA for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia during surgery.
Court documents reveal that on each of those days, the beloved Friends star ordered her personal assistant, Kenny Iwamasa (known as Perry’s “Alfred” and “Batman”), to inject her with the drug six times a day.
Some days he even injected him eight times.
According to his statement to prosecutors, on the day he died his employer, Iwamasa, who had no formal medical training, gave him an injection at 8.30am and another at 12.45pm while Perry was watching a movie. He was then asked to prepare a hot tub for him before ordering him: “Give me a really big one.”
Iwamasa admits he did as he was told when Perry was near or in the hot tub at his Pacific Palisades mansion. He then went out to run errands for two and a half hours.
On his return, he found his boss face down and unconscious in the water.
Matthew Perry with his assistant Kenny Iwamasa, who injected him with drugs
The coroner determined that the 54-year-old actor died due to the “acute effects of ketamine” and that drowning was a “contributing factor.”
Since his death, those who loved Perry have been clamoring for answers to a number of disturbing questions about his lifestyle and eventual death.
But as prosecutors seek justice against those in Perry’s circle who they say were involved in his death, more questions continue to emerge.
Chief among them: why did the actor stay home alone to die? Would it have been different if they hadn’t fired his nursing team, who had been on his payroll for years due to his addictions and health problems?
Why and who let them go?
And, crucially, what would have happened if he hadn’t been served solely by Kenny Iwamasa, whose previous work experience was as an executive assistant (essentially a secretary) to Perry’s agent, Doug Chapin?
What if he had been assisted by someone with experience as a “sober companion” who had worked with drug addicts before?
Questions also abound about Perry, described by multiple sources as “manipulative” and at times “angry and cruel.” To what extent was Iwamasa unfairly targeted by his employer?
One friend summed up this complicated dilemma by saying, “Don’t get me started on my opinion of Kenny and his actions or decisions. There is a special place in hell for someone who is willing to stick a needle full of drugs into another human being who just published a book on sobriety.” But the friend adds, “I’m not in any way saying Matthew is a victim.”
Another source close to the actor says Perry had very few people around him at the end of last year and was very isolated.
Previously, she had two assistants and a nursing team available to supervise the taking of prescribed medications and in case of medical emergencies.
Sometime in 2023, Perry stopped receiving medical care. Friends and family have no doubt that ditching the nurses was his decision. US Weekly reports that he “verbally, emotionally and physically abused” at least one of them.
However, sources say Perry’s fondness for ketamine, which seemed to have replaced a decades-long struggle with oxycodone, had its own deadly consequences that any medical professional could have foreseen.
Questions also abound about Perry, who has been described by multiple sources as “manipulative” and at times “angry and cruel.”
As noted by the district court that brought the charges against its promoters: “Because of the medical risks associated with ketamine, it was widely accepted in the medical community that it was necessary for a health care professional to monitor a patient who had just received ketamine.”
The court added: “When monitoring a patient who had been administered ketamine, it was necessary for the healthcare professional to have access to certain life-saving equipment, including a defibrillator, a supply of supplemental oxygen, equipment to monitor the patient’s heart rate and breathing, and medications to ensure the patient’s safety.”
None of this was present for Perry at the time.
That this was an enormous risk should have been obvious. In his plea agreement — a deal reached between the prosecution and defense teams in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a more lenient sentence — Iwamasa admits that in the month before Perry died he found him unconscious “at least twice” because of his drug use.
The plea agreement even states: “Victim MP’s death was a natural and foreseeable consequence of the conspiracy based on, among other things, the frequency and amount of ketamine the defendant was administering to Victim MP, the defendant’s observations of Victim MP’s adverse reactions to ketamine injections in October 2023, and the fact that the defendant was administering ketamine injections to Victim MP without medical training or access to the medical equipment necessary to counteract an adverse reaction to ketamine.”
His death was not a silver lining, but a predictable consequence of rampant addiction. Now some say Perry’s addiction must have been obvious, at least from his financial records.
Iwamasa admits that he met with alleged drug dealer Dr. Salvador Plasencia seven times and gave him $55,000 in total over a 29-day period.
All of his staff – and indeed all of his expenses – were apparently approved and paid for by Lisa Ferguson, his long-term business manager. Perry is said to have had a $120 million trust fund and Lisa took care of all of his financial expenses.
Did Ferguson know? A friend tells me: “Lisa or Lisa’s office handled all of her finances. Everything, every bill, every credit card. So I imagine there is someone who sees what goes out. We’re not talking about an amount that is withdrawn from an ATM.”
Of course, it should be noted that Lisa probably didn’t know this and there could be some other explanation.
In fact, in an early October 2023 text message played as part of the indictment, Iwamasa tells Plasencia that he was struggling to get to the bank quickly and frequently enough to keep up with the funds Perry was spending.
Ferguson did not respond to requests for comment from Perry’s staff, nor did publicists for his estate or foundation.
So what’s the truth about your circle?
One assistant, Briana Brancato, resigned in 2023 after seven years. While the year before, her sober partner, Morgan Moses, had also left his job.
She had joined his team in 2018 from her previous job at a rehabilitation clinic. She left after a violent confrontation when he pushed her onto a bed.
Iwamasa was hired shortly after. He faces up to 15 years in prison, which was reduced after pleading guilty to supplying the drugs that killed his employer.
San Diego physician Dr. Mark Chavez also pleaded guilty to one count of supply, as did drug “distributor” Erik Fleming.
Dr. Plasencia pleaded not guilty to ten charges, including conspiracy to distribute ketamine.
Alleged drug dealer and California’s so-called Ketamine Queen Jasveen Sangha has pleaded not guilty to all charges of possession and distribution of ketamine.
As the charges and accusations continue to pile up and the truth about Perry’s nihilistic lifestyle is revealed, another even more pressing question arises: how did he last so long?