October 29, 2023
The all-loved Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing of Friends), who tragically died of drowning at 54, had become a prominent advocate of addiction recovery during his last years.
Countless times, the Friends actor has gotten candid about his own struggles combatting addiction and abuse, on-screen.
Once the star was invited on Newsnight- a BBC current affairs program- along with the controversial author and strident anti-drug campaigner Peter Hitchens and an advocate for drug policy reforms Baroness Meacher.
The discussion involved specialist drug courts, and Perry was invited to serve as a magistrate.
Recounting his memorable presence on Newsnight, Perry tantalized Peter Hitchen as a “complete tool”.
Adding more onto the banter of Hitchen’s “bizarre-view” on drug abuse, Perry wrote that the broadcaster sounded “like some insane great-aunt who’d had one too many glasses of sherry”.
For the unversed, during the debate at Newsnight, “People who go through drug court have a 55 per cent less chance of ever seeing handcuffs ever again,” Perry made a comment.
On this, Hitchens confronted Perry’s view, as he described drug dependency as a “fantasy of addiction” and refuted its status as a disease. He also disputed the reality of drug dependency, opposing Perry, which later turned into a bitter exchange of comments at one point.