Matthew Perry’s ex urges Oscars to pay tribute to Friends star after backlash
Matthew Perry’s ex-girlfriend and former assistant has urged Oscars bosses to pay a moving tribute to the late Friends star - saying it was always his “dream” to be recognised at the ceremony.
Kayti Edwards urged executives not to snub the star like the BAFTAs did last month which sparked a massive backlash from fans.
And she also pleaded with cops to re-open the now-closed investigation into his death because of his history of having ‘rogue’ medical staff on his payroll giving him drugs.
It comes after she witnessed firsthand the Friends actor paying nurses to supply him up to 50 Vicodin pills a day. And she believes a similarly dodgy doctor or nurse could be behind the mystery dose of ketamine found in his system which killed him.
In an exclusive interview days before Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony, Kayti spoke out about her ex and pleaded that the Friends star should be remembered in some way. She thinks Matthew should be honoured either during the coveted In Memoriam section or honoured posthumously at the Oscars this weekend.
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READ MORE: Matthew Perry previously slammed ketamine as it made him feel like he was 'dying'
Matthew shot to fame as Chandler Bing in Friends (WireImage)
The actor sadly died in October 2023 (Penske Media via Getty Images)It follows recent US allegations that Matthew was aggressive with another ex plus a former assistant while high on drugs - claims all parties have so far refused to comment on.
Matthew was meanwhile snubbed at last month’s Film BAFTAs despite being in 15 hit movies, with BAFTA bosses later promising to honour him in their forthcoming TV awards instead.
Kayti, 47, who dated the late actor in 2006 but remained friends with him up until his death, says: “I know that it would mean a lot for him to be honoured at the Oscars in some way.
“I remember having a conversation with him about how it was always his dream to be recognised and not just for Friends
“He was always aware of the sad reality that Friends got tons of awards …but personally, I don’t think he got one.”
The Oscars’ five-minute-long In Memoriam section, which is accompanied by a live singer, is a closely guarded secret until Sunday night.
His film credits included 17 Again with Zac Efron, The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel The Whole Ten Yards with Bruce Willis; Fools Rush In with Salma Hayek and A Night In the Life of Jimmy Reardon with the late River Phoenix.
“I am not surprised at all by the backlash [to the BAFTA snub] …he was so very well loved,” Kayti says. “Although it’s interesting as he had a love-hate relationship with his film career. He was always cast in a funny role or as the love interest but instead he always wanted roles that had more depth, and that were more meaningful.”
Matthew made his name as the wise-cracking Chandler Bing in the hit series, which saw him earn $1million (£780,000) per episode, and ran until 2004.
Friends fans puzzled by Rachel blunder in season 9 they never noticed before
But behind the scenes the actor was struggling with addiction and revealed recently in his memoir how he spent $9 million (£7.1m) trying to get sober including 15 trips to rehab.
The troubled actor eventually died aged 54 in October with an autopsy finding he succumbed to the “acute effects” of ketamine.
He had been receiving ketamine infusion therapy as treatment for depression but the last session was a week and a half before he died, and the ketamine is only in your system for three to four hours.
It means he had been sourcing his ketamine elsewhere but the LAPD recently closed the investigation.
“It needs to be looked at again. I know when Matthew was taking 40 to 50 Vicodin in a day, he was getting it from a nurse who would bring it to his house,” says Kayti.
Matthew Perry died at 54 years old"He had a way of enabling people to do things for him, saying ‘I’ll give you this amount of money if you keep your mouth shut and get me this.’"
Kayti says she herself was roped into securing his drugs when she dated him in 2006, and later worked as his assistant, in 2011.
“He made it so hard to say no. He was like ‘Kayti, can you run down and pick up this envelope for me, I’ll give you $5,000.’ It was hard to say no to that.
“It’s why I want people to investigate medical staff to see if he had a deal with any of them to give him some ketamine on the side.”
Kayti worked as Matthew’s assistant at the height of his drug addiction and saw the fall-out firsthand.
“Matthew wasn’t a casual partier and when he was in his addiction, it was very scary,” she says. “He was just like a vacuum cleaner of anything you could get his hands on which is very dangerous.
“But with a person in active addiction, you can’t really tell them to stop or make them stop. You know, you can just kind of be there for them.”
Kayti — granddaughter of British film icon Julie Andrews — had previously dated him for several months after meeting through her grandfather Blake Edwards, the Hollywood director of the original Pink Panther movies.
And when they broke up, they remained friends, with Matthew even becoming pals with Kayti’s new husband Walter, who was in recovery.
“Matthew kind of gravitated to him a bit as my husband was sober and in a programme,” remembers Kayti. “I think Matthew felt safe with us a little bit, and that we didn’t judge him.”
Away from the screen, Matthew was a real homebody and shunned the limelight, she says.
“It wasn’t like I was hanging out with Matthew Perry, the actor, he was just average. He liked to stay home and watch movies. He likes to put on his Alexa and listen to music and cook,” she adds. “And you know, he wanted to be at home a lot because he just wanted to be himself and not have to worry about going out which was a chore for him.”
Ironically given the show that made him a global star, Kayti was constantly worried that in reality he didn’t have many real friends who had his best interests at heart.
“It just makes me feel really sad that most of the people in his life wanted something from him…he never really had a solid, good group of friends that really just cared about him and not who he was,” she says.
Kayti last saw Matthew last in Malibu, when he was engaged to Molly Hurwitz.
“I ran into him at this little juice bar called the Vitamin Barn in Malibu, and we sat down and chatted for ages,” she says.
“I actually didn’t really recognise him at first because he had gained a lot of weight, which was great as when you are sober, you gain a bunch of weight.”
Kayti Edwards thinks he should still be honoured at the Oscars despite allegations (Daily Mirror)
Kayti worked as Matthew's assistant (Daily Mirror)She remembers being surprised he was engaged but says how he “always craved a family”.
“Having children was a big part of his dream. He felt like he was getting older, so it did not surprise me that he was getting married so quickly. He felt this clock was ticking,” she says.
After the actor died, reports emerged that he “threw a coffee table” at Hurwitz after she accused him of cheating in 2021. The reports were credited to a source, and also included the allegation he was aggressive towards former sober companion and best friend Morgan Moses. Neither the alleged victims nor Matthew’s estate have commented.
Kayti says: “I never ever saw Matthew’s violence in any way and it doesn’t make sense. But again, I’m not discrediting her story. Because when you are on drugs, which I have seen firsthand in other relationships… that if you take the drugs away and somebody’s in active addiction, they do get very angry,.
“They could have been her saying ‘you can’t do this anymore. I’m hiding it or I’m flushing it or whatever’ and he lost his mind. Drug rage. I also never tried to take stuff away from him so he never was violent.”
Towards the last few months of his life, Kayti says she was worried by pics of him looking dishevelled.
“He’s normally very clean and well manicured. That’s how I knew him. He even had a full face wash routine. But then I started looking at pictures and it was clear that he had started declining, which I can guess was that he was probably battling, being sober and not being sober. He just didn’t care anymore, he just gave up.”
Kayti, who runs a horse rescue ranch, in Yucca Valley, California, says that despite his problems he remained a very good friend to her right until the end. And she was left crestfallen by his death.
“He was also a really good friend to me, and really supportive when I started this horse rescue,” she adds. “He just loved the animals, and was just very supportive of my life and my journey.”
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