Matthew Perry tragically died last year, with the Friends star, 54, found dead at his California Home in October 2023.
Perry was reportedly found unresponsive in the swimming pool of his house in the Pacific Palisades area, with his death ruled an accidental drowning. However, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office later attributed his death to the “acute effects of ketamine”.
Perry had long struggled with addiction, and in recent years he has been most celebrated for the work he has done for substance abuse awareness after his own experiences.
Following the findings from the toxicology report, an investigation was opened into Perry’s fatal ketamine overdose, and who supplied him with the drugs, revealing “a broad, underground criminal network responsible for distributing large quantities of ketamine to Mr. Perry and others.”
The investigation is said to have involved the Los Angeles Police Department, the US Drug Enforcement Agency and the US Postal Inspection Service.
This week, five people have reportedly been charged over Perry’s death. These are said to include his personal assistant, a US woman dubbed “the Ketamine Queen” and the two doctors who reportedly supplied Perry with ketamine.
“These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves,” announced US attorney Martin Estrada this week. “They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry, but they did it anyway.”
The federal case is ongoing.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew,” read the statement by Perry’s Friends co-stars Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow and Matt Le Blanc, at the time of Perry’s death. “We were more than just cast mates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”
We will continue to update this story.