How Celebrity Person of Interest in Matthew Perry’s Death Grew Close to Actor in Rehab
The celebrity who was questioned by the cops in connection to Matthew Perry's death was the late actor's friend, In Touch can exclusively reveal.
"She had been in treatment with Matthew before, and they had a lot of ties in the acting community," an insider tells In Touch of the female celebrity residing in a sober living home in Los Angeles. "It was an unexpected friendship, but they leaned on each other."
As first reported by In Touch in a world exclusive, the woman was brought in for multiple interviews with law enforcement after the LAPD launched a criminal investigation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service into the circumstances surrounding the Friends star's death from "acute effects of ketamine."
While In Touch knows the identity of the celebrity in question, her name will not be disclosed due to sensitivities in the ongoing investigation.
Matthew had been to rehab 15 times. "I lived half my life in one form or another of treatment center or sober living house," he wrote in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. "To simply stay alive, I had to turn myself into a professional patient."
The woman — who is currently sober, according to the insider — swears she would never do anything to hurt her late friend, whom she met while they were both working on their sobriety.
In fact, the insider says she "was in total shock and had no idea what the search warrant was about" when authorities arrived at her sober living house, which she'd entered after her latest rehab stint.
"She's hired lawyers and has had multiple meetings with law enforcement since they arrived at her sober living house with a search warrant. She's being tight-lipped about the situation. But the investigators must have known something to get a warrant and turn up like that," says the insider.
"It's tough to say or know exactly what her role is [in Matthew's death], but she's adamant she had nothing to do with that."
The authorities are also sharing minimal details amid the ongoing investigation. "I know who you are referring to," a law enforcement agency source tells In Touch of the woman. "I am not at liberty to discuss any aspects of this investigation at this time due to mutual agreement with the other agencies involved in the investigation."
The woman, who is a household name because of her marriage to an A-lister, was "completely cooperative" with law enforcement and "surrendered everything," says the source. In Touch revealed that an iPhone and a laptop were taken during the search.
"She wasn't expecting what happened to happen," the insider says, adding that the woman was not handcuffed, nor was she arrested. "The officers searched her room."
It's not entirely clear what they were looking for, says the insider, "but the inquiry was tied to the investigation into how Matthew acquired the drugs that killed him."
As for the unnamed celebrity, "She's been an emotional wreck," says the source. "This could send her over the edge, whether she's involved or not."
Read the full world exclusive report on The Hunt For Matthew Perry’s Killer in this week’s issue of In Touch available at newsstands or magazineshop.us.
