Matthew Perry’s loved ones ‘blindsided’ by assistant’s arrest in his death, report says

Matthew Perry’s friends and family are “blindsided” after the arrest of his live-in assistant, who has been charged in connection with the “Friends” star’s ketamine-related death last October.

A source close to the five-time Emmy nominee told Us Weekly his loved ones were also “saddened” to learn Thursday that Kenneth Iwamasa was among five charged in connection with Perry’s Oct. 28 death, due to “the acute effects of ketamine.”

“Matthew kept secrets,” said the insider. “I wouldn’t be shocked if Kenny was the only one who knew how bad it really was.”

Though Perry — who was candid about his lifelong battle with addiction — was widely believed to be sober at the time of his death, the source said that 59-year-old Iwamasa started working for Perry around June 2022, at which point the actor “wasn’t actually sober.”

“When he was brought on it was already chaotic,” said the source. “He had been going in and out of sobriety. And multiple people were helping to take care of him.”

The source added that Iwamasa “knew the situation and could deal with Matthew,” and “presented himself to be a decent person.”

Perry’s family, including stepdad and “Dateline” correspondent Keith Morrison, on Thursday said they “were and still are heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously.

“We look forward to justice taking its course,” continued the statement.

The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Central District of California on Thursday announced that Iwamasa admitted to injecting Perry with ketamine without medial training and did so several times on the day Perry died. He pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, for which he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Authorities on Thursday said Dr. Salvador “Dr. P” Plasencia and Dr. Mark Chavez have also been charged in Perry’s death, as have Jasveen Sangha — better known as “The Ketamine Queen of Los Angeles” — and director-producer Erik Fleming.

Fleming also pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution resulting in death. A reported “acquaintance” of Perry’s, the “Surreal Life” director faces up to 25 years behind bars.

Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

Perry was found dead in the hot tub at his Los Angeles-area home on Oct. 28, with media reports at the time noting his assistant had been the one to find him. It was widely reported that Perry had been undergoing physician-assisted ketamine infusion therapy to treat depression and anxiety.

TMZ reported back in the spring that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and local authorities were investigating how the “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” author accessed the ketamine.

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