Keith Morrison, the veteran “Dateline” correspondent and stepfather of the late actor Matthew Perry, says in a brand new interview that the “Buddies” star felt he was overcoming his yearslong struggles with dependancy earlier than he was discovered unresponsive in his sizzling tub in late October.
“He felt like he was beating it,” Morrison informed “TODAY” present co-anchor Hoda Kotb on an episode of her “Making Spaces” podcast. “However you by no means beat it, and he knew that, too.”
Morrison mentioned his grief is still raw. “It’s with you every single day. It’s with you on a regular basis, and there’s some new side of it that assaults your mind,” he mentioned. “It’s not straightforward.”
Perry, who was open about his experiences with alcoholism and substance misuse, died Oct. 28 at age 54 from the “acute effects” of ketamine, the Los Angeles County medical expert’s workplace mentioned in an post-mortem report launched in December. The report mentioned drowning, coronary artery illness and the results of buprenorphine, an artificial opioid, contributed to his loss of life.
The post-mortem report mentioned Perry had been “reportedly clear for 19 months.” He was reported to have been utilizing ketamine infusion remedy to assist take care of despair and nervousness, in keeping with the findings, and his final therapy was every week and a half earlier than he died.
Morrison, who has been married to Perry’s mom, Suzanne Perry Morrison, since 1981, informed Kotb that his stepson “didn’t get to have his third act, and that’s not truthful.”
Perry was beloved by generations of tv viewers for his position because the smart-aleck accountant Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom “Buddies.” In late 2022, Perry revealed a memoir, “Buddies, Lovers, and the Massive Horrible Factor,” which chronicled his upbringing in Canada, in addition to his rise to fame, dependancy challenges and restoration.
Morrison mentioned Perry and his mom have been nearer than that they had been in a long time when he died. They have been “texting one another continually,” and he shared “issues together with her that almost all middle-aged males don’t share with their moms.” (Perry’s mom, who was a press secretary for the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, divorced his organic father when Perry was younger.)
Morrison mentioned he can nonetheless really feel “the echo” of Perry’s presence in his day-to-day life, remembering his stepson as a “larger-than-life individual” who all the time “lit up a room.”
“He was goofy. He was humorous. He was acerbic,” Morrison mentioned. “However even when he didn’t say a phrase, he was the focus.”
In describing their relationship, Morrison mentioned he and Perry have been, “as they are saying, chalk and cheese. He was loud and on the market and humorous and aggressive.”
Morrison recalled taking a younger Perry to hockey video games on Saturday mornings, remembering that “if he didn’t rating all of the targets, he was so indignant all the way in which residence and he wouldn’t speak to anyone; he was actually mad.” Perry would behave a lot the identical manner if he missed a shot throughout a tennis match.
“He had that type of very fiery persona, and mine isn’t like that, as you possibly can think about,” mentioned Morrison, who’s broadly identified for his wry baritone voice. “However we received alongside effective. … I by no means tried to switch his dad … however I used to be there for him, and he knew it.” (Perry’s organic father was the character actor John Bennett Perry, who has appeared in varied movies and tv exhibits.)
Morrison mentioned he tried to assist Perry “as a lot as doable” through the years.
“That’s a whirlwind of a life, to become involved in a program that turned as wildly profitable because it was, to be combating an dependancy that was so virulent, that went after him so arduous,” Morrison mentioned, including that Perry would get to a “sure level” when he knew he wanted to get therapy and “settle for assist when he wanted it.”
“However as he mentioned himself, it simply saved occurring … and it was a giant bear,” Morrison mentioned. “It was a tricky factor … [a] large, horrible factor.”
This text was initially revealed on NBCNews.com
