How did Matthew Perry’s death uncover Hollywood's ketamine network? Guilty pleas highlight celebrity drug access

Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry's death uncovers Hollywood's ketamine network (Getty via Soap Central CMS - Resized on Canva)

Matthew Perry's death uncovered the dark secrets of Hollywood's ketamine network. The 54-year-old actor passed away inside his jacuzzi at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. After investigations were carried out, it was revealed that hours before the actor passed, he was administered three shots of ketamine by his live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.

Court documents revealed that Kenneth has been administering Perry the drug illegally. Sometimes, the doses went up to six to eight injections in a day. The last injection that took Matthew Perry's life was supplied by the "Ketamine Queen," Jasveen Sangha, a dealer who works only with "high-end celebs".

She is one of the last five people to plead guilty in relation to selling drugs that killed Matthew Perry. She has agreed to plead guilty to five charges and will appear in court on September 3.

Matthew Perry's death highlighted the dangerous underground drug network in Hollywood, exposing how powerful substances like ketamine are being illegally supplied to celebrities with devastating consequences.


How did Matthew Perry's death prompt others to speak up about celebrity drug use?

A year before Matthew Perry's tragic death, he wrote a book called Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir. In the memoir, he details his struggles with addiction and how he overcame it. But sadly, the renowned actor succumbed to his vices and passed away after a fatal ketamine injection.

Perry had asked his live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, to:

"Shoot me up with a big one," before he passed.

Bonnie Low-Kramen, a former celebrity assistant, spoke up about the issue. She said:

"I think it was a situation that increasingly got more and more out of control... tasked with doing things many of us wouldn't imagine carrying out for our employers. It is a job which comes with an inherent power imbalance."

She further elaborated on the power imbalance by saying:

"When people are rich and famous, they often have people around them who won't say no... And assistants are in the yes business anyway... We're in the business of figuring out, 'well, let's solve the problem...'. When money is no object, there are new rules that apply in that situation and that can be really hard to handle."

Low-Kramen also talked about other celebrities who died due to drug abuse. She listed Janis Joplin, John Belushi, Prince, and others. She said:

"Unfortunately, there are so many examples of this tragic end, where the abuse of drugs gets to a point where they've handled it for a really long time, and then the day comes when it can't be handled anymore."

Bonnie also spoke about the dangers of having 'yes men' when it comes to fighting addiction. The former celebrity assistant elaborated:

"Treatment is difficult for people when they have yes men. They have a lot of people that are going to tell them you can get whatever you want, you can get drugs, you can get alcohol, you could do whatever, and no one is willing to really look at that from the perspective of how dangerous that is."

Matthew Perry's Friends former co-star and alum, Jennifer Aniston, also said during an interview:

"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... I'm glad he's out of that pain."

Matthew Perry's death not only exposed Hollywood's secret ketamine network but also restarted conversations about the dangers of celebrity drug abuse. His passing emphasized the toxic role of power imbalances and 'yes men' in enabling addiction.

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Edited by Benidamika Jones Latam