Matthew Perry’s Family Blames Live-In Assistant for Overdose Tragedy

Matthew Perry’s family is blaming his former live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, for enabling the drug use that contributed to the Friends star’s death. This claim emerged in victim impact statements filed before Iwamasa’s sentencing.

Iwamasa, 60, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death. Prosecutors stated he injected Perry with ketamine multiple times without any medical training, including on the day Perry died in October 2023.

Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of three years and five months, according to The Associated Press.

Perry, 54, was found dead at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. The Los Angeles County medical examiner determined that ketamine was the primary cause of death, with drowning as a secondary cause.

Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, wrote in a letter to the judge that the family trusted Iwamasa because he had known Perry for decades and was hired to help him during his battle with addiction.

“Matthew trusted Kenny. We trusted Kenny,” Morrison wrote, according to AP. “Kenny’s most important job was to be my son’s companion and guardian in his fight against addiction.”

Morrison mentioned that the family believed Iwamasa understood Perry’s history and would contact relatives or friends if he felt overwhelmed. Instead, she said he helped Perry get ketamine and administered it without any medical qualifications.

“We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price,” Morrison wrote.

Iwamasa was paid $150,000 a year to work as Perry’s live-in personal assistant, according to AP and The Independent. Court filings indicated that his role evolved from assistant to drug messenger, addiction enabler, and makeshift doctor.

Perry’s sister, Caitlin Morrison, also criticized Iwamasa in her letter to the court. She pointed out that she could not know his thoughts on the day Perry died, but his actions put Perry in danger.

“I have no sympathy for Kenny Iwamasa,” she wrote, according to AP. “I wasn’t there the night my brother died. I cannot read Kenny’s thoughts. I will never know if the lethal dose of ketamine was only lethal by accident.”

Iwamasa’s defense lawyers argued in a court filing that he was an employee trapped in an unhealthy power dynamic with Perry and could not “simply say no.” They stated that this failure had tragic consequences.

Federal prosecutors have charged five individuals in connection with Perry’s death, including two doctors. The Justice Department announced the case in August 2024, stating that the defendants were accused of distributing ketamine to Perry during the last weeks of his life.

Jasveen Sangha, a woman from North Hollywood referred to in court records as the “Ketamine Queen,” was sentenced in April to 15 years in federal prison. The Justice Department noted Sangha sold ketamine that contributed to at least two deaths, including Perry’s.

Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who prosecutors said supplied ketamine and taught Iwamasa how to administer it, received a 2 1/2-year prison sentence. Iwamasa became one of the government’s key witnesses after reaching a plea deal.

Perry gained fame as Chandler Bing on Friends, which aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004. He spoke openly for years about his addiction and later detailed his recovery in his memoir.

Iwamasa is set to be sentenced on Wednesday. Perry’s family informed the court that his actions deepened their grief and altered their understanding of the actor’s final hours.