Charlie Sheen knew late Matthew Perry ‘wasn’t sober’

Charlie Sheen has opened up about his feelings on Matthew Perry’s struggles shortly before the Friends star’s death in 2023.

In an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored released Tuesday, September 16, Sheen said he felt uneasy while watching Perry promote his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, which detailed his fight with addiction.

“I could tell he wasn’t sober, talking about a book that is all about sobriety and recovery,” Sheen told host Piers Morgan. 

“I felt really bad, I felt bad for him. When I heard a little snippet from the audio book, he didn’t have that perfect, specific, laser focused diction that he always had, delivering comedy or anything at the level that he did. So I could hear a man who was … handicapped.”

Sheen, who is currently working on a Netflix documentary and his own memoir about addiction, admitted he wished he had reached out to Perry at the time. 

“I didn’t know Matthew that well… I read his book, and I read it in a day, and I loved it. And I’m so proud of him and inspired by it,” Sheen said. 

“Then I wanted to reach out, you know, because I’m in his book … when he says, ‘Eff Charlie Sheen and I’m going to be that famous one day too.’ And I didn’t. I think he died, like, three weeks after I read the book.”

Reflecting on Perry’s struggles, Sheen added, “I could feel that sort of the prison that he, you know, put himself in.” 

He also noted that while he wasn’t sure if his support would have made a difference, he regrets not making the effort.

Matthew Perry was found unresponsive in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023, and was pronounced dead later that day. 

A toxicology report later confirmed he died from the “acute effects of ketamine.”