Watch: Matthew Perry’s Mom Suzanne Morrison Condemns His Assistant’s Actions in Gut-Wrenching Letter
Matthew Perry’s mother Suzanne Morrison has many regrets.
And chief among them is placing her family’s trust in Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s assistant at the time of his 2023 death, who later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine in connection to the Friends star’s passing.
In a victim impact statement filed and obtained by E! News May 21 ahead of Iwamasa’s sentencing, Morrison said Iwamasa’s “most important job” was to act as Perry’s “companion and guardian in his fight against addiction” with the intention of keeping the actor “drug free.”
Instead, Iwamasa repeatedly helped administer ketamine to Perry, including on the day of his death, which he admitted to as part of a plea agreement with the Department of Justice.
“Instead of protecting Matthew, he aided and abetted illegal drug taking, arranged for one source of supply, then another,” Morrison wrote in her letter. “Shot the drugs into Matthew’s body, though he was not in the least qualified. He did it even though he could see, anyone could have seen, it was so obviously dangerous. And he did it again and again.”
In her letter, Morrison also alleges that Iwamasa attempted to remain close to Perry’s family after his death, writing that he “kept a sharp eye on” her.
“He sent me songs,” she continued. “He drew a little map to help me find my way around the cemetery. If he saw a rainbow—one of Matthew’s favorite things—he would call me.”
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Morrison also alleged that Iwamasa “insisted” on speaking at the funeral for Perry, “as if he was somehow the good guy who tried to save” him.
Now, looking back, Morrison is haunted by his involvement in her son’s life. As she put it, “We trusted a man without a conscience, and my son paid the price.”
And while she is grateful for the investigation into her son’s death, and the justice she hopes will come, for Morrison it feels as though closure will never come.
“Ask any mother whose child has been torn away so mercilessly,” she wrote. “Nothing takes this pain away, nor will it, I am sure, for as long as [I] live.”
Iwamasa is scheduled to be sentenced on May 27, per NBC News.
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Since Perry’s 2023 death, Jasveen Sangha—a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen”—has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to supplying Perry with drugs.
At Sangha’s April sentencing hearing, Perry’s stepdad Keith Morrison—who married the actor’s mom in 1981—addressed her directly.
“I feel bad for you,” he said in his victim’s impact statement, per Today. “I don’t hate you, I’m not angry at you. You’re a drug dealer. The fact is you supplied an addict.”
And on the death of Matthew, the journalist added, “There was a spark to that man that I’ve never seen anywhere else…he was one of a kind. He should have had another act. Two more acts.”
For more loving tributes shared in the wake of Perry’s tragic passing, read on.
Molly Hurwitz/ Instagram
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Terence Patrick/CBS via Getty Images
Stephen Lovekin/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images/Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic
Rachel Murray / Getty Images for Clinique/Screen Media Films / Dayn Nanda / E! News
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
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Nicholas Hunt / Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
Matthew Eisman/Getty Images, Cindy Ord/WireImage
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NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Se?zane
Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for A+E
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