"Friends" star Matthew Perry has fans worried after he appeared to slur his words in a promo video for the highly anticipated reunion show, which airs May 27.
Perry has had multiple stints in rehab over the years, and now many are concerned he has relapsed. Their fears arose after the clip of Perry was posted to People's YouTube channel. In the video, Perry has a labored speech pattern and a faraway stare while speaking with former co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc about their time shooting the sitcom.
Commenters on the YouTube video were shocked.
"Hurting to see Perry this way," one person wrote.
"I hope Matthew is better and on the path to recovery! It's definitely evident that he's been through a lot and has lost most of his energy," another noted.
"I ofc say this acknowledging we know very little of their private lives but as Perry looks sober and healthy in the actual trailer, I would guess he understandable struggled after all of the filming, going back there, perhaps leading to why he definitely seems intoxicated in this post production interview," a third added.
Perry's first relapse came in 2000. That year he wound up in the hospital with pancreatitis, which was caused by alcohol abuse, according to Page Six. It was not enough to stop him from drinking. Perry would reportedly down vodka then show up to work unable to function. After hitting rock bottom, he decided to reach out to his parents for help.
"It was scary. I didn’t want to die," he told People in 2002. "But I’m grateful for how bad it got. It only made me more adamant about trying to get better."
Perry underwent treatment and stayed sober for several years, but in 2011 he had voluntarily checked himself into a rehab facility, Page Six reported. Two years later he converted his home in Malibu, California, into Perry House — a sober-living facility for men — but he permanently closed it in 2016. That same year Perry spoke candidly about his addiction in an interview with BBC Radio 2, admitting that he barely remembered filming three seasons of "Friends."
"Somewhere between Season 3 and 6 … I was a little out of it," he said.
Perry is believed to have been sober for several years. Although he has admitted to having some "hard" days during lockdown on Instagram, he announced happy news in November, when he revealed to People that he was engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Molly Hurwitz.
"I decided to get engaged," he told the outlet. "Luckily, I happened to be dating the greatest woman on the face of the planet at this time."
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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