Charlie Sheen said he believed Matthew Perry was using drugs about a year before the former Friends star died of a ketamine overdose in 2023.
Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Sheen said he heard a change in Perry’s voice while listening to the actor’s audiobook for Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing and that it signaled to him that Perry “wasn’t sober.” "When I heard a little snippet … he didn’t have that perfect, specific, laser-focused diction that he always had," Sheen said, adding that he could "hear a man who was … handicapped." He said the observation came while he was promoting his own memoir and that he felt "really bad" after listening.
Sheen said he read Perry’s memoir in one day and was moved by it, and that he had intended to reach out to Perry for a conversation but did not do so before Perry’s death. Perry’s memoir was released in November 2022; he was found dead at his Los Angeles home in October 2023 and an autopsy later determined the cause of death to be a ketamine overdose.
Sheen, a Golden Globe nominee who has spoken publicly about his own struggles with addiction, told Morgan that he never tried ketamine. "I never did it," Sheen said, noting he had seen others use the drug but did not think it suited him. He also said he had attended a support group Perry ran several times and that the two had crossed paths socially, including at a party where Perry met his third ex-wife, Brook Mueller.
Perry’s death prompted a police investigation that later included allegations involving people accused of supplying ketamine. Mueller has been connected in reporting to individuals charged in relation to the investigation; she has publicly discussed her own recovery and was reported to be nine months sober as of September 2024.
In the interview, Sheen described mixed feelings: pride in Perry for writing candidly about recovery, regret for not having reached out, and sadness at hearing what he perceived as deterioration in Perry’s speech. He declined to speculate on specifics of Perry’s death, speaking only to what he heard in the audiobook and his personal intention to connect.
Matthew Perry achieved international fame for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom Friends and had spoken openly in recent years about his struggles with addiction. His memoir drew attention for its frank account of those struggles and for candid remarks about other figures in Hollywood. Sheen referenced one such passage in which Perry had written an expletive-laced line about Sheen, saying he nevertheless admired the book and was "so proud of him and inspired by it."
Sheen’s comments on Piers Morgan Uncensored came amid renewed public discussion about addiction, recovery and the responsibilities of friends and colleagues when they observe signs of relapse. Advocacy groups encourage people affected by addiction to seek professional help; the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provides a national helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for those seeking assistance.
