Matthew Perry Was ‘100 Percent Sober’ When He Died, Says Friend Athenna Crosby

Matthew Perry‘s friend Athenna Crosby said the Friends alum was “100 percent sober” when he died on October 28 at the age of 54.

Athenna, 25, admitted that she wasn’t completely aware of everything that happened on the day of his death, although the pair lunched together at the Hotel Bel Air the day before he died.

“I mean, I can’t know what exactly he was thinking or feeling. I can only share my experience. And, of course, he was his own person that maybe he had said, done or thought of things the day that he passed that I might never come to know,” the former beauty pageant contestant said in an interview with Fox News Digital published on Thursday, November 2.

The disabilities rights activist added, “In the interaction that I had with him, he was extremely positive, sober, acting normal, spoke very well, did not give me any impression that he was under drugs or alcohol of any kind. So, I think people are speculating that this was a relapse situation. I just want to defend him and say that it was not.”

Athenna shared how she was “absolutely devastated” when she learned about Matthew’s death. “Not only is it hard to hear that somebody greatly admired passed away, but it’s eerie to hear that somebody you just spoke to passed away,” she revealed.

The Utah Valley University graduate said Matthew’s death was totally unexpected to her. “I was just having lunch with a friend and did not think anything of it, did not feel like there was anything coming. I didn’t suspect anything. He was completely normal. So, I later went home and did not think about it until the next day when I heard the news.”

Matthew was found unresponsive in the hot tub of his Pacific Palisades home by his assistant, Briana Brancato. Paramedics arrived and declared him dead at the scene. Earlier in the day, he played a game of pickleball with a friend but left after only an hour after complaining of feeling fatigued.

On October 29, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office completed an autopsy on the 17 Again actor but listed the case as “deferred” so that more testing could be done — including a toxicology screening — before a cause of death can officially be determined. Those test results could take up to four to six months to come back.

Matthew did not have meth or fentanyl in his system when he died, according to TMZ. The site reported that initial tests done during the actor’s autopsy yielded those results.