Matthew Perry's Friends Reveal He Lied About His Sobriety Before His Death: ‘Matthew Was Brilliant’

New revelations have emerged that challenge the narrative surrounding Matthew Perry's supposed sobriety leading up to his shocking death on October 28. Despite assertions from Perry and friends, including Jennifer Aniston, that he had been clean and "in a good place" for the 19 months before his demise, insiders now paint a different picture.

Insiders close to Perry have disclosed that the cherished actor was not entirely forthcoming about his sobriety, a revelation that challenges the narrative presented during the promotion of his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Terrible Thing. Despite Perry openly sharing details of his lifelong struggle with addiction, relapses, rehabilitation experiences, and health ramifications in the book and subsequent interviews, three sources disclosed to US Weekly that Perry's assertions of being sober were inaccurate.

“He was verbally, emotionally, and physically abusive,” one source claimed, describing Perry as a "manipulative" individual who caused pain and played the victim. Another source emphasized that Perry, “wasn’t a horrible human being. (But) he was so warped in his addiction that he wasn’t himself and the man he should be.” According to the source, Perry would use Raya to connect with young women, build rapport through FaceTime, and then invite them to his home. The source added, "He wasn’t out in public anymore. That’s how he snuck things past people. Addicts are smart, and Matthew was brilliant."

Contrary to the public perception of Perry's life and career being on an upswing, reports suggest a darker reality. The morning of his death, Aniston, who had been texting him, believed he was doing well, describing their conversation as light-hearted. “I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty,” Aniston shared. “He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy,” she said. The actor had also shared a heart-wrenching tribute on her social media account of Instagram. 

"Oh boy this one has cut deep... Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be," Aniston wrote by sharing images of Perry. "For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh.

As he said himself, if he didn't hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard," she added.