Matthew Perry’s family is speaking out on the first anniversary of his death in an emotional interview with Today‘s Savannah Guthrie.
Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison painfully revealed her frustration with not being to help her son with his addiction struggles. “I’m a very lucky woman. But there was one glitch, there was one problem that I couldn’t — I couldn’t conquer it. I couldn’t help him,” she said.
Perry’s stepfather and Dateline correspondent, Keith Morrison, and three of Perry’s sisters — Caitlin, Emily and Madeline Morrison — spoke with Guthrie about his final days and the foundation founded days after his death to continue his life’s work.
“The Matthew Perry Foundation is the realization of Matthew’s enduring commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction,” reads a description on the foundation’s website.
Perry addressed his intention to help those with addiction struggles in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, saying“When I die, as far as my so-called accomplishments go, it would be nice if ‘Friends’ were listed far behind the things I did to try to help other people.”
“He made it a big focus of his life to help other people, to encourage other people to say, ‘I need help.’ He tried to make people see that that was a brave thing,” Suzanne Morrison said.
The 54-year-old Perry was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office determined he died of acute effects of ketamine. Perry had been undergoing ketamine treatment for depression and anxiety, but prosecutors say the actor had been using the drug unsupervised and had become addicted.
“I don’t even know if in his mind he had relapsed,” his sister Madeline Morrison said.
Keith Morrison agreed, noting “I don’t think he did.”
Five people were charged in relation to the actor’s death, including two doctors and the actor’s assistant, and three have pleaded guilty, according to federal prosecutors.
Suzanne Morrison recalled Perry saying shortly before he died, “I love you so much, and I’m so happy to be with you now,” almost as if it was a “premonition.”
“There was an inevitability to — to what was going to happen next to him, and he felt it very strongly. But he said, ‘I’m not frightened anymore.’ And it worried me,” Emily Morrison said.
His mother continues to be awed by the devotion of her son’s fans, who continue to visit his burial site in Los Angeles.
“Whenever I’m there, there will be people coming to see him — still now. Usually that wears off,” she said. “They leave really lovely letters to him. Like, ‘I felt so sad. You helped me get through my teen years,’” she said, calling his impact on people “just unbelievable.”
She said she has kept all the notes. “I’ll maybe release them sometime, so people can see. But they really did love him, because they could relate to him.”
