TMZ.com Home

Matthew Perry detailed his personal struggles with drug addiction in an interview with Diane Sawyer last year -- and they even discussed his possible death.

The "Friends" star sat down with the legendary journalist to promote his memoir during an ABC News segment in October 2022 — and the conversation turned dark almost immediately.

Sawyer read a passage from the book titled, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir," quoting Perry as saying, “My friends call me Matty and I should be dead."  With a serious, yet troubled look on his face, Perry responded, “That’s definitely true."

Sawyer continued to quote from Perry's book, asserting that addicts can only beat drug addiction with a healthy support group.

Perry replied that his addiction was always waiting to get him alone so he could fill his time by using drugs, in which case he admitted, "You lose to the disease."

As we reported, Perry was found dead Saturday in a jacuzzi at his L.A.-area home after first responders received a call of a person in cardiac arrest. Investigators believe Perry drowned and are awaiting the results of toxicology tests to determine his cause of death. Our sources say no illicit drugs were recovered from the scene and no foul play is suspected.

At one point during the Sawyer interview, Perry tried to paint a rosier picture of his pill addiction, explaining that he "now feels OK and feels like he's got some strength." But Sawyer pushed back, asking him what he meant.

Perry said, "It means I developed some safety nets around this."

He went on to talk about his seemingly never-ending battle with the pain killer Vicodin, disclosing he ingested a jaw-dropping 55 pills per day. Visibly stunned, Sawyer asked how he could get so many pills.

Perry said he would do anything to obtain them -- even if it meant raiding the medicine cabinet at a seller's open house or going to a doctor's office with a fake migraine to get a prescription.

He also said he stayed sober for long periods of time -- but then he would get cocky, thinking, "I've got this" and "I don't need to learn anymore." As a result, Perry stopped going to 12-step meetings, leading him down the path of using drugs again.

Matthew Perry's family showed up at his home in L.A. just hours after the "Friends" star died Saturday in a jacuzzi.

Matthew's mother Suzanne Morrison, his father, John Bennett Perry and his stepfather, "Dateline" correspondent Keith Morrison displayed their emotions as they walked up to the house where Perry died.

TMZ broke the story ... first responders rushed to Perry's home after receiving a cardiac arrest call. Perry drowned in his jacuzzi. No drugs were found at the scene. TMZ obtained the dispatch audio -- not the 911 call -- in which first responders were sent to the house.

As TMZ reported, Matthew posted an eerie photo just days before his death, in which he showed himself in a jacuzzi with city lights below, and the caption ... "Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I'm Mattman."

Matthew's parents split when he was still a young boy. His mother married Keith Morrison in 1981. Matthew devotes a significant portion of his memoir talking about his upbringing and some of the struggles he endured as the child of divorced parents.

Matthew stayed in touch with his biological dad, an actor, and John even appeared on one episode of "Friends." John was also the Old Spice sailor in commercials.

6:02 PM PT -- More details are surfacing about the circumstances surrounding Matthew Perry's death ... as sources tell us he actually died at his own house after some physical activity this morning.

We're told Matthew came home sometime in the AM after a 2-hour round of pickleball, and that he sent his assistant out on an errand shortly thereafter. We're told when the assistant returned about 2 hours later, he discovered Matthew unresponsive ... and called 911.

Unclear if what Matthew was doing before his passing played any role in his death at this point -- the investigation into his death is underway.

Matthew Perry -- one of the stars of "Friends" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us the actor was found Saturday at an L.A.-area home ... where we're told he appears to have drowned. Our sources say first responders rushed over on a call for cardiac arrest. It's unclear where exactly on the grounds this happened.

Our sources say he was found in a jacuzzi at the home ... and we're told there were no drugs found at the scene. We're also told there is no foul play involved.

Perry is most famous for his role as Chandler Bing on the hit '90s sitcom, which ran for 10 seasons ... and with him in all 234 episodes. His character was a fan fave, as was his performance -- mannerisms and lines of which have gone on to be recreated and spoofed by fans all over the world. One comes to mind, in particular ... "Could (blank) BE more ..."

While "Friends" was his biggest claim to fame ... MP starred/guest starred in countless other TV shows over the years -- such as "Boys Will Be Boys," "Growing Pains," "Silver Spoons," "Charles in Charge," "Sydney," "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Home Free," "Ally McBeal," "The West Wing," "Scrubs," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," "Go On," "The Odd Couple" and more.

He had also acted in a handful of memorable films (mostly comedy) ... like "Fools Rush In," "The Whole Nine Yards," "Three to Tango," "The Kid," "17 Again," "Getting In," and many others. He's been off the scene more recently ... not having acted since a TV miniseries in 2017.

While his onscreen persona was affable and upbeat, Matthew suffered mightily behind the scenes -- notably, from his addiction to drugs and alcohol ... pain killers, specifically. He was hooked on Vicodin for years -- even while on 'Friends' -- and had been in and out of rehab.

Matthew opened up about this painful chapter of his life in a memoir he put out last year -- where he detailed the struggles he had ... including his clear weight loss/gain on the show.

During his press run for his book ... Matthew did a number of interviews where he got incredibly emotional -- including one with Diane Sawyer, where he detailed his story.

While Perry appeared to be clean and sober a year ago, the year prior -- when he and the other cast members were plugging the "Friends" reunion show -- drew concern from fans ... as they felt he appeared unwell, at times slurring his words and looking a bit out of it.

On top of his substance use ... Matthew also dealt with health issues, some of which were serious and required hospitalization. One such incident stemmed from a gastrointestinal perforation -- which forced him to undergo emergency surgery ... but he luckily recovered.

Matthew never married, but he was briefly engaged to Molly Hurwitz a couple years ago ... which came to an end after only 6 months. Before that, he'd been linked to Lizzy Caplan.

He was 54 years old.

RIP

Paris Hilton is in full Halloween mode, costuming it around Hollywood Friday and Saturday as both Katy Perry and Britney Spears.

Paris, along with Kate Beckinsale, Demi Lovato and other stars hit up a fun party Saturday night in L.A. Paris copied Katy's look from a Vegas show a few months back with a red latex bodysuit and funny hat.

The day before, Paris was full-on Britney Spears at the Casamigos party.

As for Demi ... she took a page from early life, coming as Disney's Snow White.

Kate was a futuristic space woman ... which suits her just fine!

Tons of stars showed up ... Justin and Hailey Bieber, Billie Eilish, Ashley Benson, Paris Jackson, Al Pacino's baby mama Noor Alfallah, Paul Wesley, Casey Affleck, Glen Powell, Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss and Jodie Turner-Smith.

Matthew Perry was all people were talking about Saturday, and Adele was among them ... paying tribute to the "Friends" star during her Vegas show.

Adele called Perry's character, Chandler Bing, "probably the best comedic character of all time."

TMZ broke the story ... Perry was found dead in his jacuzzi Saturday from a presumed drowning.

Adele went on ... "It is always so shocking, especially someone that made you laugh and who brought so much joy to your life that you don't know. This is what I find so strange, I never met him in my life. There is something, you feel so sad about it especially because you don't necessarily know what was going on."

Adele, dressed for Halloween as Morticia Adams, dedicated "When We Were Young" to Perry.

Adele echoed what people have been saying since news of Perry's death broke, saying ... "He was so open with his struggles with addiction and sobriety, which I think is incredibly, incredibly brave."

Matthew Perry seemed to be enjoying a day out with a friend exactly one week before he died -- leaving a West L.A. eatery in a scene that turns out to be the last time he'd be seen in public.

On October 21, the "Friends" star was walking out of the Apple Pan -- a popular West L.A. spot for burgers, sandwiches and pies. He appeared to be leaving with a male friend who was carrying a takeout bag.

Matthew was growing a little goatee ... a different look from the clean-cut guy millions of "Friends" fans knew and loved, but all in all the guy seemed to be doing well.

Prior to that, MP was seen on October 3, as he left a workout in Los Angeles.

TMZ broke the story ... Matthew's assistant found him unresponsive Saturday morning at his home, just a couple hours after he'd completed a 2-hour match of pickleball. Our sources say he was found in a hot tub, and there were no drugs found at the scene.

It certainly seems like Matthew enjoyed soaking in the tub. It's an eerie image now, but just 6 days ago -- in what would be his final IG post -- he posted a nighttime shot from the hot tub, and included the caption, "Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I'm Mattman."

Clearly, that sense of humor his fans loved and came to expect from the beloved 54-year-old actor was still intact.

The budding friendship between Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes isn't just for cameras on Sundays ... they've exchanged phone numbers and they're giving BFF vibes!!!

Sources close to Taylor and Brittany tell TMZ ... they swapped digits the first time Taylor went to a Kansas City Chiefs game to cheer on Travis Kelce, back on Sept. 24, and they've kept in touch ever since -- texting each other even when it's not gameday.

We're told Taylor and Brittany don't only see each other at Chiefs games ... and all their fun times NFL fans see on camera aren't just for show, as some folks are speculating.

Case in point ... Taylor and Brittany took shots together at Travis' after-party for the first game TS attended, as the WAGs were hanging out at the shindig.

From there, they progressed to hugs and dances in the players' family stadium suites ... and then this past Sunday, Taylor and Brittany debuted their new handshake to much fanfare.

Travis and quarterback Patrick Mahomes have a strong connection on and off the field ... and the same can be said for Taylor and Brittany.

Two infamous pieces of Tupac Shakur's past now have a price tag attached to them ... and someone with a lot of dough could secure his booking photo, or even his ID, from his time behind bars.

The big sale is going down on Momentsintime.com -- one of the items is an unseen booking photo from when he served time at Clinton Correctional Facility in New York in 1995.

We're told it's going for $35k on the site -- but that's nothing compared to his incredibly rare prison identification.

Tupac's ID is going for a whopping $75,000 ... and it's actually the one he got as a replacement after losing his OG card.

The wealthy buyer will also get the form he had to fill out when requesting a replacement -- it's got his signature and a note that simply reads, "I lost my ID and need a new one. Thank you."

We're told the ID and booking photos were given to a family member once Pac got out of prison ... and it was passed around over the years before winding up in the hands of a private collector.

You'll recall, Tupac served 9 months for his 1995 sex abuse conviction. His first prison ID was auctioned off back in 2019, eventually fetching $30k after an opening bid of just $2,000.

Peyton Manning and Pat McAfee are back together on the football field again ... and believe it or not, it's Pat who's training the Hall of Fame quarterback -- how to punt!

The former Indianapolis Colts teammates reunited at Lucas Oil Stadium this week for a Halloween episode of Peyton Places on ESPN+ (produced by Omaha Productions) ... where Peyton got a personal tutorial on how to perfect the "coffin corner."

If you're not hip to what a coffin corner is ... it's when the punter kicks the ball between the opponent's 5-yard line and the endzone, giving the offense terrible field position.

"Here Peyton, you try," McAfee said. "Nobody wants to see me punt the ball. They wanna see you do terrible with this."

Considering it's the Halloween episode, they actually placed a literal coffin on the field as a target ... and Peyton had a helluva time getting it down.

But after several tries, Manning finally had some success -- all while wearing a vest and slacks!

"You just hit it," McAfee yelled. "Let's go!!!"

Of course, getting trained by McAfee helps -- the guy's a 2-time Pro Bowl punter who booted more than 575 punts for over 26,000 yards.

The guys were teammates on the Colts from 2009 to 2011 ... right before Peyton signed with the Denver Broncos, where he won his 2nd Super Bowl.

Pat and Peyton are both TV guys now -- McAfee has his show on ESPN, and Manning has the famous "Monday Night Football" Manningcast with his brother, Eli (which airs on ESPN 2).

To all you pum-kings and pum-queens out there ... Halloween is just days away, so get ahead of the curve carve on your pumpkin creations!

If you're feelin' freaked with your pumpkin carvings, don't be frightened, because TMZ has got you covered with all kinds of celebrity stencils ... and gourdness gracious, they're quite fab!

Give your neighbors pumpkin to talk about, and cut out this year's hottest stars who've been makin' the rounds all year ... including Taylor Swift, Ice Spice and Bad Bunny.

Step up to our gallery of celebrity pumpkin stencils! Use the links to download and print out an easy-to-use PDF template to get right to it!

Maitland Ward might as well be an unofficial member of Ben Savage's congressional campaign team ... she's coming out strong to support him, and bashing other ex-costars who aren't doing the same.

We got Maitland in Beverly Hills, where she was rocking a "Savage For Congress" shirt, and our photog asked why Ben's got her vote ... and why other "Boy Meets World" stars aren't banging the drum for him.

The former teen TV star-turned-porn star says Ben's a good man who deeply cares about his community -- he's running for CA's 30th district, which includes parts of Los Angeles and its northern suburbs -- and she says she likes his forward-thinking.

Remember, Maitland's been on Ben's side since he filed back in January to begin his run for Congress. To her point about their other 'BMW' costars ... Rider Strong says he's not going to endorse Ben just because they starred on a TV show together as teenagers.

Rider made his feelings known on the podcast he hosts with other "Boy Meets World" stars Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle ... and Maitland thinks they're just bitter Ben didn't want to cohost the pod, and they're holding it against him.

Ryan McKenna, famous for snapping a viral Super Bowl selfie years ago with Justin Timberlake, is in more legal trouble -- this time cops say he pulled a few no-nos for a guy on probation.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Ryan was arrested earlier this month in Florida after his probation officer discovered he'd traveled out of state without permission.

The PO says he got suspicious when Ryan sent an email saying he was "unsure" of any outstanding conditions for October, even though Ryan had already checked in for the month.

When he called Ryan, he didn't answer ... so he dialed his mom, and she told him Ryan was back in Naples, FL, where Ryan had been arrested in February in the case that led to his probation.

Problem is ... the PO says Ryan's address on file is in Massachusetts, and he's supposed to get permission before leaving the state.

When Ryan finally called back, he admitted being back in Florida without getting the PO's permission ... and based on that "unusual behavior," the officer tested Ryan for drugs and alcohol, and says it came back positive for booze.

Major screwup on Ryan's part, and not just because he's under 21 -- as we first reported, Ryan's also not allowed to consume alcohol as a condition of his probation.

Ryan copped to drinking on Oct. 12, even though he'd previously told his PO he didn't. The officer says Ryan was upfront about knowing booze was off limits and lying to his probation officer is also a violation.

Ryan was arrested, posed for a new mug shot and is due back in court Monday morning for arraignment.

TMZ broke the story ... cops were called to a California Pizza Kitchen in Naples, on the eve of the Super Bowl, after they were told Ryan was drunk and had hit his buddy.

Underneath this freshly cut jack-o-lantern is an actress and singer who takes spooky to a whole 'nother level! She's so hooked on Halloween ... she's explored witchcraft, spirits and even ghost hunting. 'Put your sneakers on' and see if you've got what it takes to smash this scrambled star!

All month long, this pumpkin head has been sharing festive content, leaving her 50+ million Instagram followers with anticipation for this year's costumes ... 'Cat Woman,' "Ghostbusters" and "Alice in Wonderland" are just a few (of the many) iconic looks this Disney star has slayed over the years.

Travis Kelce has Taylor Swift on the brain whether he's with her or not -- 'cause the dude's out here singing her songs in public ... even though she's nowhere to be seen herself.

The Chiefs tight end was out in Arlington, TX Friday -- where he swung by Globe Life Field to catch Game 1 of the World Series between the Rangers and the D-backs ... and where he ended up getting caught on camera indulging in his girlfriends catchy tunes.

First, fans noticed TK crooning and dancing along to 'Shake It Off' ... which was played during the game. Travis' bouncing around was actually shown on the jumbotron, and he didn't shy away from lip-syncing -- bobbing his head and getting a little hand action in too.

Later in the evening ... there was another opportunity to belt out some TayTay, and he did.

Check it out for yourself -- the dude was singing his heart out to one of her most well-known songs, 'Love Story,' and he was even seemingly recording himself while doing it. That, or he was on the phone with someone ... possibly even Taylor. 👀

In any case ... the timing of this great for a couple reasons. For one, it shows that he's all in on Taylor and supports her even when she ain't looking. Of course, the bigger deal here is the fact that Taylor just re-released her '1989' album ... and needs all the pub she can get.

Looks like Travis is solid boyfriend material in both capacities -- and funny enough, he's got a similar cheering style as she does when up in the stands.

Some of Bad Bunny's fans might be complaining about astronomical prices to see him live, but latin music mega-producer Sky Rompiendo says real fans always find a way ... and he's speaking from experience.

TMZ Hip Hop ran into Sky in NYC where he was celebrating the release of his own new music -- more on that in a moment -- but he instantly put himself in fans' shoes when we asked about the buzz over Benito's new tour.

His "Most Wanted" tour presale opened this week, and critics are griping about nosebleed seats reportedly going for $150 to $250, while anything down low is pushing $1000 ... depending on the city. And, that's on Ticketmaster, not scalping sites!

Sky acknowledged the prices might be steep, but added ... ever since he was a kid "if I like an artist, I'll do whatever it takes to see them." Bottom line for him -- real fans always find a way. Plus, he added, Bad Bunny "does whatever he wants" ... quoting his 'SNL' monologue.

Sky was in NYC to drop his new single, "Crush," featuring Arcangel and Dei V. He threw a release party Thursday night at Sei Less in Manhattan, where Fat Joe swung by to offer some motivation to the Colombian superstar.

Having produced hits with the likes of Benito, J. Balvin, Karol G and Rauw Alejandro ... Sky knows the genre is bigger than ever, and that means its top artists get to demand top dollar on tour -- just like Taylor Swift, Beyonce or Drake.

Gigi and Bella Hadid's father, Mohamed Hadid, apparently thinks there's a lot of similarities between Israelis and Nazis ... a gross comparison that's getting absolutely lambasted online.

Mohamed, who's Palestinian, posted (and deleted) an image that shows a juxtaposition with Nazi Germany and Israel ... listing the things he seems to believe they have in common -- something that was screen-grabbed by countless people and which is now circulating.

Among the traits Mohamed views Nazis and Israelis as sharing ... both being founded on "supremacy" (Arian vs. Jewish, as he puts it); expelling millions from their homes; putting racial groups in ghettos/camps; using dehumanizing language for undesirables; enforced collective punishments; and their "signature method" ... noting Nazis used gas chambers and Israelis use "carpet bombing." In his eyes, there is no difference between the two.

Mohamed added a long caption to this post before he took it down, which read in part ... "And Both added and labeled the victims as Terrorists. regardless of their peacefulness of other activities. Some Palestinians and some jews even changed their names."

He continued ... "The whole world turned a blind eye to the horrible massacre of the Jewish population ... And now they turned the blind eye on the Palestinian massacre." Mohamed goes on to say that he does not condone what Hamas did on Oct. 7 -- slaughtering innocent Israeli civilians -- but he's clearly not signing off on the way Israel has responded after.

That stance, in and of itself, is certainly controversial/debatable ... but his side by side of Israelis, a Jewish state, and the group that once attempted to exterminate them en masse goes far beyond the pale and undermines his point  ... and now, he's getting slammed.

As we reported ... the Hadids, as a family, have faced death threats since this escalated conflict kicked off -- which is obviously horrible and worthy of condemnation -- but Mohamed here doesn't seem to be trying to put out the fire with stunts like this.

If anything, it's only going to fan the flames.

Gigi and Bella haven't addressed their dad's inflammatory remarks, specifically ... but they have thrown up posts calling on a ceasefire in Gaza over the past 24 hours or so.