LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Friends' star Matthew Perry was allegedly found dead of an apparent drowning at his LA residence on Saturday, October 28, 2023, TMZ reported. First responders rushed to his home after a 911 call for cardiac arrest and found him unresponsive in a jacuzzi. The beloved star was 54 at the time of his death.
In an interview with The New York Times to promote his upcoming memoir ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing’, Matthew Perry revealed the astounding sum of money he spent on treatment for his addiction. The 'Friends' actor also elaborated on how Jennifer Aniston helped him during his time coping with the addiction.
The high price of Perry's sobriety struggle was made public. “I've probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” the actor said to The New York Times, while also sharing that he recently celebrated 18 months of sobriety. The timeline stated that Perry had only recently quit drinking at the time of the ‘Friends’ reunion special, which aired in May 2021. The website Celebrity Net Worth estimates Perry's net worth to be $120 million. For the first season of ‘Friends,’ the actor was paid $22,500 per episode and for the final two seasons, he was paid a whopping $1 million per episode. Recently, he disclosed that he was addicted to opioids and that he was on the verge of death. He also described how his drug and alcohol abuse left him with a 2% chance of surviving after opioids caused his colon to burst and put him in a two-week coma.
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What's Matthew Perry's net worth?
The website Celebrity Net Worth estimates Perry's net worth to be $120 million. For the first season of ‘Friends,’ the actor was paid $22,500 per episode, making the total salary for the season $540,000. The salary rose to $40,000 per episode in the second season, with a total salary of $960,000. Ahead of the third season, Perry along with other cast members negotiated as a group. This helped them strike a deal of $75,000 per episode of Season 3 (total $1.875 million), $85,000 for Season 4 (total $2.04 million), $100,000 for Season 5 (total $2.5 million) and $125,000 for Season 6 (total $3.125 million). The cast negotiated for a massive raise once again ahead of Season 7, striking a deal of $750,000 per episode in Seasons 7 and 8, which amounts to $18 million per season. For Seasons 9 and 10, each cast member was paid a whopping $1 million per episode, taking the total to $24 million for Season 9 and $18 million for Season 10.
Jennifer Aniston reportedly confronted Perry about his drinking in the movie's trailer and told him that everyone on set "knows you're drinking," according to the actor. He added that Aniston had continued to assist him while he recovered: “[Aniston] was the one that reached out the most,” he revealed. “I'm really grateful to her for that.” On October 20, when discussing his new biography with People Magazine, Perry opened up about the extent of his drug abuse.
Perry, who is best recognized for his role as Chandler Bing on ‘Friends,’ discussed his decades-long struggle with addiction during his interview. He disclosed that he needed 14 surgeries on his stomach and that he had to use a colostomy bag for nine months. He also stated that his stomach bears several scars from the numerous operations. In order to prevent him from relapsing, his therapist warned him that if he takes drugs again, he might have to use a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. The actor declined to say when he became sober but claimed he is now "pretty healthy" and chooses to "count each day."
He also claimed that in order to get clean, he had to visit a rehabilitation facility 15 times. His first visit was in 1997, and he returned in 2001 and 2011. His interview revealed the following: “The doctors told my family that I had a two percent chance to live. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that's called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.” Adding: “I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again. I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober - and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction - to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people." He added that by the time he was 34, he was "entrenched in a lot of trouble" and that his alcoholism started when he was 24 and a cast member of ‘Friends.’
When he was on ‘Friends,’ Perry admitted to taking 55 Vicodin each day, saying he was at his lowest weight of 128 lbs but "didn't know how to stop." According to him, his ‘Friends’ co-stars "were understanding and patient.” He was clean in season nine, the same year he was nominated for Best Actor. He co-starred in the Friends television series from 1994 to 2004 as Chandler alongside David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow. The stars became well-known thanks to the 10-season television series. They got back together in 2021 for a reunion special which was their first get-together in 17 years after the show's conclusion.
