Matthew Perry reveals he spent about $9M trying to get sober
Matthew Perry revealed he’s spent nearly $10 million over the course of his life to get sober from his alcohol and drug addictions.
Talking to the New York Times, the “Friends” alum he’s been 18-months clean of all substances, which meant he was newly sober by the time the “Friends” reunion aired in May 2021.
“I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” he estimated.
While Perry is aware that he has resources most addicts don’t, he also said that they have “the gift of anonymity,” which means they’re spared the humiliation of having their darkest moments exposed.
The “Whole Nine Yards” star, 53, detailed his long history with substance abuse, which began with imbibing alcohol at age 14 and turned into a full-blown opioid addiction that would ultimately cause him to suffer a nearly fatal health scare in 2019.
“The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live,” he previously told People of the moment his colon burst.
“I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.”
Perry spent two weeks in a coma and had to wear a colostomy bag for a year, the idea of which ultimately prompted him to get sober.
“My therapist said, ‘The next time you think about taking OxyContin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life,’” Perry told People. “And a little window opened, and I crawled through it, and I no longer want OxyContin.”
Perry will further detail his struggles in his forthcoming memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” out Nov. 1.
“There is a hell,” Perry writes in his memoir (via NYT). “Don’t let anyone tell you different. I’ve been there; it exists; end of discussion.”
He added, “Now I feel better because it’s out. It’s out on a piece of paper. The ‘why’ I’m still alive is definitely in the area of helping people.”
