Matthew Perry Spent $9 Million In Efforts To Get Sober
After Matthew Perry opened up about his addiction journey last week, the Friends alumni revealed just how much money he’s spent in his battle against addiction. In a recent interview published Sunday (October 23) by the New York Times, he said, “I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober.”
He told the Times that after his Friends character, Chandler Bing, married Monica Gellar (Courteney Cox) in the season 7 finale, he was “driven back to the treatment center …in a pickup truck helmed by a sober technician.”
Perry, 53, told the publication, “[I was] at the height of my highest point in Friends, the highest point in my career, the iconic moment on the iconic show… When you’re a drug addict, it’s all math. I wasn’t doing it to feel high or to feel good. I certainly wasn’t a partyer; I just wanted to sit on my couch, take five Vicodin and watch a movie. That was heaven for me. It no longer is.”
Perry has a long history with substance abuse. He started drinking at age 14 and later become addicted to opioids which lead to going to rehab 15 times and having 14 surgeries on his stomach. According to Perry, he’s now been sober since early 2021, shortly before shooting the highly publicized Friends reunion special for HBO Max, which aired in May 2021.
Ahead of his upcoming ABC News interview with Diane Sawyer airing this Friday, October 28, a preview shows Perry revealing how his co-star tried to intervene. Jennifer Aniston was the one who reached out the most when his drinking spiraled out of control. Sawyer listed that Perry was taking Methadone, Xanax and consuming a “full quart of vodka a day,” with Perry adding that he’d also take 55 Vicodin a day. Perry recalled how “Jenny” told him, “We know you’re drinking,” to which he told Sawyer, “Yeah, imagine how scary a moment that was. She was the one that reached out the most. I’m really grateful to her for that.”
Watch the preview for the ABC News interview below:
