Matthew Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, found him unconscious at least twice before the day he died, according to court documents, and nobody is talking about it.
The revelation was made as part of the investigation into the death of the “Friends” star that resulted in multiple arrests. Dr. Salvador Plasencia, San Diego physician, Dr. Mark Chavez, Erik Fleming, Jasveen Sangha, known as ‘the Ketamine Queen” and Iwamasa have been arrested in relation to the star’s death.
They all allegedly played a role in the actor’s demise, but the warning signs were reportedly all there, according to court documents shared by Law & Crime Network. The documents obtained by the outlet stated that Iwamasa — who has “pleaded guilty” on “on count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death” — had found Perry unconscious after using ketamine but continued to administer the drug.
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 27: Actor Matthew Perry is seen on October 27, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Joker/Star Max/GC Images)
Matthew’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, learned how to inject Matthew with ketamine, and injected him with his final doses.
Court documents include information provided by Kenneth Iwamasa about Matthew’s final day as part of a plea agreement:
8:30 a.m. Matthew asked for… pic.twitter.com/PfyHofXURD
— Starcasm (@starcasm) August 16, 2024
“In the days leading up to October 28, 2023, at Victim M.P.’s direction, defendant injected Victim M.P. with significant quantities of ketamine,” the court documents shared by Law & Crime revealed, referencing Perry by his initials. “For example, between October 24 and October 27, 2023, defendant injected Victim M.P. with approximately 6-8 shots per day.”
The documents reportedly went on to state that “during the month of October, 2023, defendant found Victim M.P. unconscious at his residence on at least two occasions.”
That passage from the court documents was broadcast on video and widely shared, and it deserves some attention.
American-Canadian actor and comedian Matthew Perry, American actress and comedian Lisa Kudrow, American actress Jennifer Aniston, and American actor and comedian David Schwimmer attend the 26th People’s Choice Awards, held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California, 9th January 2000. (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)
It was previously found that Iwamasa did not have any prior medical training or medical background, yet he was freely being given ketamine to administer to the famous actor, according to the documents obtained by Law & Crime.
It lends to further inquiries about his conduct, and questions surrounding what, if anything, was being done to care for Perry while he spiraled out of control. If there were at least two instances during which Iwamasa stumbled across perry’s unconscious body after injecting him with ketamine, why would he continue to administer the drug?
It also begs the question — what was being done to help the star when he was in the troubling medical state? This would presumably be a very stressful, concerning situation for Iwamasa to witness, yet he continued to inject Perry time and time again.
Moving beyond that point, I’d like to dig deeper into the investigation to understand the scene of Perry’s death. Did Iwamasa assume Perry would rebound as he did before? I wonder if he reacted immediately by calling first responders to the scene, or if he assumed Perry would somehow recover from this instance of ketamine overdose as he had at least twice before.
Perry’s autopsy was released in December, and stated that the amount of ketamine in his blood was in the same range as what is used for general anesthesia during surgery. If Iwamasa injected him with the drug, why would he leave him and allow him to remain unsupervised, especially in a hot tub? Perhaps the actor’s life could have been saved if Iwamasa had acted faster, or hadn’t been concerned about how Perry’s condition and subsequent death would impact him directly.
I hope they probe this further, and if they already have, I hope the information is more widely shared, to help raise awareness of this important case and any missed opportunities that could have been seized to prevent this tragedy. (RELATED: The Most Tragic Developments In The Investigation Of Matthew Perry’s Death Revealed)
HOLLYWOOD, CA – APRIL 28: Actor Matthew Perry arrives at the premiere of “Ride” at ArcLight Hollywood on April 28, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images)
There should be more attention put on Perry’s final moments, especially since it has already been widely reported that Perry’s final words before death were spoken to Iwamasa, as he turned to him and said, “shoot me up with a big one,” according to People, citing the plea agreement.
