Friends’ creator Marta Kauffman urges Matthew Perry fans to focus on actor’s life instead of death

Marta Kauffman, co-creator of the beloved sitcom Friends, has called on fans to remember Matthew Perry for the joy he brought through his role as Chandler Bing, rather than focusing on the circumstances of his death. 

In a recent interview with The Times (U.K.) commemorating the 30th anniversary of the show, Kauffman reflected on her close relationship with Perry, stating, "He is the one I had the most contact with." 

She revealed that they had been in touch just two weeks before his passing, saying, "He and I were FaceTiming and he seemed really good."

Kauffman also shared her thoughts on how fans could honor Perry’s memory, emphasizing two key actions: "One of them is to donate to drug treatment centers — let's fight the disease," she said. "And the second way is to watch Friends and remember him not as a man who died like that but as a man who was hilariously funny and brought joy to everybody."

David Crane, the other co-creator of Friends, also reflected on Perry’s struggles with addiction, recounting that by the time they became aware of it, the cast and crew were already a close-knit family. He mentioned a conversation where they asked Perry if he wanted to leave the show, to which Perry was adamant: "No, this is really important to me."

Following Perry’s death from acute ketamine effects last year, Kauffman, Crane, and executive producer Kevin Bright released a joint statement expressing their grief. 

"It still seems impossible," they said, noting how blessed they felt to have had Perry in their lives. The statement continued, "He was a brilliant talent. It's a cliche to say that an actor makes a role their own, but in Matthew's case, there are no truer words."

Kauffman later shared in an interview with Today that she had been concerned for Perry during the filming of the 2021 Friends reunion special, knowing his past struggles with addiction. 

Her fears were rooted in the recurring cycle of surgery, pain, and subsequent opioid use that Perry had endured over the years.

In a separate development, the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against five individuals connected to Perry’s death, including doctors Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, Perry's personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, Erik Fleming, and Jasveen Sangha, also known as "the Ketamine Queen."