Keith Morrison Gets Candid About Stepson Matthew Perry’s Health Issues & Drug Battle

Dateline star Keith Morrison has opened up about the passing of his stepson Matthew Perry, including details of how the Friends actor was in the weeks before his death and the impact his passing has had on his family.

In an interview with CBC’s Q with Tom Power, Morrison said, “Ask any parent who’s lost a child. It’s one thing for me — I’m his stepfather and we were close, but I’m the stepfather. I’m not his mother. Ask any mother what it’s like to lose a child. It doesn’t matter whether he’s five or 55.”

Perry died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54, and in December 2023, an autopsy report revealed his death was ruled an accidental overdose caused by acute effects of ketamine. A year before his death, Perry wrote the memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, detailing his lifelong struggle with addiction.

“A few months before [the book], he could barely walk from his house to his car,” Morrison recalled. “The idea that he could actually sit down and write a book was wild — and yet he did. And that helped keep him clean, I guess. I really believed this time it was going to work. But again, this is the drug addict who understands everything about drugs.”

Morrison described Perry as a “world-class expert in drugs” before explaining how, after getting sober, the actor decided to undergo ketamine infusion therapy to help treat his depression and anxiety.

“He told us repeatedly about how effective it was to wipe any depression away,” Morrison shared. “His mother was very suspicious of this. She didn’t think ketamine was a good idea, but he kept saying… ‘It’s not addictive. That’s the great thing about this drug. It’s revolutionary. It’s going to eradicate depression.’ But his addictive personality was so strong that, you know, when the treatment stopped, he couldn’t.”

Morrison noted that despite Perry wanting to get better, his fame and fortune made it easy to get a hold of anything he wanted. “He’d be in a hospital somewhere or a rehab centre and he had some girl on the outside running off to get drugs and bring them to him secretly,” he stated. “He attempted to have some opioids FedExed to him in a major New York hospital while he was being treated for drug addiction.”

Perry’s death came as a shock to many, though, as Morrison put it, “As Matthew himself said a number of times in the last few years of his life, ‘If I die suddenly, people will be shocked, possibly, but not surprised.'”

In August, five people were arrested in connection with Perry’s death, including his longtime assistant and doctors. The Department of Justice announced that their investigation revealed a “broad underground criminal network” that showed those arrested “took advantage” of Perry by selling him ketamine.

Morrison, a veteran true crime reporter, told CBC that he is very familiar with this type of case and the anger it causes.

“I’ve sat across from probably literally thousands of people over the years who have felt that very anger,” he explained. “So I guess my perspective is a little bit different. Suzanne [Perry’s mother] is furious, especially at the people who were trusted more than anyone else. I’m just very sad and not surprised. The venality of some of these professionals is just… it still shocks me.”

Morrison also touched on Perry’s relationship with his mother, saying, “He and his mother were as close as any two people I knew… clearly loved each other quite intensely. But also, you know, when they fought, they fought intensely.”

The Canadian broadcast journalist detailed how Perry and Suzanne spent a day together just a couple of days before he died. “She said [it was] one of the sweetest days that they’ve had together in a long time, and he seemed very happy,” Morrison shared. “[He] actually said to her… he isn’t afraid to die anymore. I think he was relating that to the fact that he was able to get it all out in the book and go and tell people about [his addiction issues]. It wasn’t a shameful secret anymore.”

Following Perry’s passing, his family set up two new foundations in his name, including the Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada, which launched on Thursday night (October 24). They’ve also established a similar foundation in the U.S. with the aim of helping support those recovering from addiction.

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“[We’re working with] some amazing people, who are offering opportunities and ideas for treating addiction which go beyond anything [Matthew] was able to find anywhere to help him,” Morrison said. “Even though, you know, he had endless money to throw at the problem, there wasn’t the kind of treatment that was going to fix it for him or help him fix it for good.”

Perry’s younger sister, Caitlin Morrison, serves as the executive director of the Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada, which she said makes her feel closer to her brother.

“[I feel] like I’m sitting right next to Matthew, working with him every day on something that was important to him,” Caitlin told HELLO! Canada. “I have this treasure of getting to keep him very, very close to my life all the time, which is wonderful.”

In her bio on the foundation’s website, Caitlin wrote that she “will always think of herself as Matthew’s kid sister — a wide-eyed girl who thought (still thinks) her brother was the coolest human being who has ever existed.”

She added that “The best thing he ever taught her was that no matter how many times you fail, you haven’t failed until you stop trying.”