How did Jennifer Aniston try to help Matthew Perry in his battle with addiction? Co-star recalls confronting him about drinking

Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston recalled helping her Friends co-actor Matthew Perry with his battle with addiction in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, published on August 11, 2025.

Jennifer said that she and the other Friends cast members tried everything they could to help Matthew Perry during his long struggle with addiction. She said:

''We did everything we could when we could.''

Matthew Perry died in October 2023 at his Los Angeles home. The cause of death was revealed as acute effects of ketamine, with other factors including drowning and coronary artery disease.

Jennifer Aniston on helping Matthew Perry with his addiction battles

Jennifer Aniston recalled the times when she and other members of the Friends cast, including Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer, tried to help Perry:

''But it almost felt like we’d been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight. As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there’s a part of me that thinks this is better.''

She further added:

''I’m glad he’s out of that pain.''

In Perry's 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, he openly spoke about how his Friends co-stars tried to help him during his addiction struggles. He had mentioned that Aniston was the one who reached out the most and consistently checked in on him, even years after the show ended.

He also mentioned an incident during filming, when she once confronted him by saying:

“We know you’re drinking,” which deeply affected him but also showed how much she cared.

In an interview with Diane Sawyer in 2022, Perry spoke about how the confrontation was a scary moment for him. He said:

''She was the one that reached out the most. You know, I'm really grateful to her for that."

In an interview with Variety in December 2023, just months after Matthew's death, Aniston shared about Perry's health. She said:

''I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy. He was on a pursuit. He worked so hard. He really was dealt a tough one. I miss him dearly. We all do. Boy, he made us laugh really hard.''

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As per Entertainment Weekly, five people were charged with supplying the ketamine that led to Matthew's death in October. Among the five individuals were Kenneth Iwamasa, his personal assistant, two doctors, Dr. Salvador Plasencia and Dr. Mark Chavez, a friend, Eric Fleming, and Jasveen Sangha, a woman from North Hollywood who prosecutors say is known as “the Ketamine Queen.''

Perry’s shocking death had deeply saddened both fans and his Friends and co-stars.

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