A new documentary about Matthew Perry, focusing on the actor’s final days and the ongoing legal case surrounding his death will be available for viewing starting next week. Titled Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, the documentary will premiere on Peacock on February 25.
The trailer for the documentary opens with a 911 call reporting a drowning, mirroring the circumstances of Perry’s death. It then moves on to a collection of clips from his days on the hit TV sitcom Friends, including moments with his five other castmates and appearances at prestigious award shows like the Golden Globes, where the show earned numerous accolades.
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Providing a personal insight into Perry’s character, actress Morgan Fairchild, who played his mother on Friends, also appears in the documentary. “He really touched people’s lives,” she reflects in the trailer.
The trailer continues with interviews of others who suggest that Hollywood is filled with enablers that will prey on the vulnerable, and latch them onto drugs, getting them addicted, referencing that Perry was an addict and there was ketamine in his system when he was pronounced dead.
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Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California responsible for handling the Perry case also weighs in in the documentary. "He had died as a result of ketamine," Estrada says. "We used to blame the victim. We don’t do that anymore."
Perry passed away on October 29, 2023, from a drowning incident in a jacuzzi. He was believed to be a recovering addict when it was unveiled that he had ketamine in his system. Five individuals were charged for the distribution of the drugs, including his live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa. The others accused include two doctors, Dr Salvador Plascencia and Dr Mark Chavez, Erik Fleming, and Jasveen Sangha, aka the Ketamine Queen.
The case remains ongoing, with the next trial date scheduled for March 4, 2025.
