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Matthew Perry’s Ex Kayti Edwards Says He ‘Wouldn’t Have Just Drowned,’ Suspects Relapse Before Death
Matthew Perry’s reported ex-girlfriend Kayti Edwards suspects the Friends star may have relapsed before his tragic death.
“I don’t believe he just drowned in his jacuzzi, that doesn’t sound right. I know Matthew and I know that he wouldn’t have just drowned,” Kayti told The Sun in an interview published November 11, adding, “I think he might have taken pills in the week leading up to this.”
The former model claims to have briefly dated the actor in 2006 after they met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. She said they stayed friends after their brief relationship ended, and that she worked as a delivery driver for him in 2011.
The actor, best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, was just 54 years old when he died due to an apparent drowning in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on October 28.
Despite initial toxicology reports coming back negative for fentanyl or meth, Kayti says “things aren’t adding up” when it comes to the details of his death.
“They said there were no prescription painkillers at the scene, which doesn’t surprise me, because he didn’t leave drugs lying around,” she said, adding, “He was paranoid and would take them all, so there wasn’t any evidence, and then go out for more when he was ready to.”
Kayti even suggested a nickname Matt used to describe himself in his final Instagram post — a photo of him in his jacuzzi captioned, “Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I’m Mattman.” — hinted at his sobriety status at the time.
“That Mattman thing was not something he did when he was sober. Mattman would come out when he was not sober and he felt kind of invincible,” Kayti claimed.
“I was around when he was getting high, although I was not getting high with him, and when I would say maybe he should cool it a little bit with the drugs, he would say, ‘No, I’m Mattman.’”
Kayti further alleged that Matthew would often go swimming when he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, claiming that a former neighbor once found him “naked and high in his [neighbor’s] swimming pool.”
“I had to go over there and get him out of his neighbor’s pool. He had a thing with water when he was doing drugs,” she said, adding that Matthew was “always alone” when he did drugs.
The reported ex previously claimed to be a delivery driver for the Fools Rush In star at the height of his addiction in 2011. In a 2020 interview with The Sun, she claimed she would pick up “cocaine, heroin and crack” for the actor while she was five months pregnant.
“He [would say], ‘No one’s going to pull over a pregnant girl. Don’t worry,” she recalled.
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” awaiting more test results — including a toxicology screening — before a cause of death can officially be determined. Those tests could take up to four to six months to be completed.
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.
The beloved actor was in good spirits and excited about his future just before his sudden death, according to those who knew him.
“He was in a good state of mind,” friend Athenna Crosby, who had lunch with Matthew at the Hotel Bel-Air on October 27, previously told In Touch. “He said he was losing weight and getting in shape. He was talking about how he had struggles but had turned it all around and was excited to have a second act.”
Athenna has previously said the Serving Sara actor was “100 percent sober” when he died, though she admitted she only knew what the actor had told her 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 November 2.
The actor was open about his struggles with substance abuse, admitting he once took up to 55 Vicodin a day and weighed only 128 pounds. Matthew began to struggle with alcohol addiction at age 24 – the same year he was cast on Friends.
While promoting his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, in 2022, The Ron Clark Story star said he had been clean for 18 months.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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