“Friends” actor Matthew Perry found himself in hot water on social media after excerpts from his new memoir revealed his apparent strong dislike for fan favorite fellow thespian Keanu Reeves. Fans were not at all pleased by what Perry said about the class act star of “John Wick,” ripping into him online.
Perry put out a number of excerpts from “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” and has sat down for a number of interviews to support the release of the book, which is set for Nov. 1. And while there are quite a few shocking moments in the book, such as the actor admitting he took up to 55 Vicodin a day at one point during his life, none seemed to rile folks up like what he said about Reeves.
According to the Daily Wire, “The first mention came when Perry discussed his friendship with the late actor River Phoenix — who died of a drug overdose at 23 outside Hollywood’s notorious Viper Room on October 31, 1993.”
“The list of geniuses who were ahead of their time is too long to detail here — suffice to say, near the top of any such list should be my costar in ‘A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon,’ River Phoenix,” Perry wrote in the book, going on to add, “River was a beautiful man, inside and out — too beautiful for this world, it turned out.”
“It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us? River was a better actor than me; I was funnier. But I certainly held my own in our scenes — no small feat, when I look back decades later,” Perry stated.
The troubled actor once again name-dropped the star of the Matrix franchise when he addressed the death of comedic actor Chris Farley.
“His disease had progressed faster than mine had. (Plus, I had a healthy fear of the word ‘heroin,’ a fear we did not share),” Perry said of Farley. “I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us. I had to promote ‘Almost Heroes’ two weeks after he died; I found myself publicly discussing his death from drugs and alcohol. I was high the entire time.”
It did not take long for the fury of the fans to be unleashed on Perry.
In a world full of Matthew Perry’s… be a Keanu Reeves.
— Billy Baldwin (@BillyBaldwin) October 27, 2022
“I think it’s nice that in a time of such division in our country we can at least all come together and exclaim that no one gets to f*** with Keanu Reeves,” Liz Vassey said on Twitter.
“Personally thrilled that Keanu Reeves walks among us,” Rachel Zegler posted in a tweet.
“Of all the people in Hollywood, there’s absolutely no reason to come for Keanu Reeves who even after personal tragedy has remained, by accounts, generous and kind. He just makes movies and comics, treats his cast and crew right, and minds his own business,” Richard Newby responded.
Come on…
Keanu Reeves is like one of those frozen cakes. Nobody doesn't like him!— Lynda Carter (@RealLyndaCarter) October 26, 2022
Keep Keanu’s name out of your mouth, Chandler https://t.co/nRh2rGDyMr
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) October 27, 2022
https://twitter.com/BillCorbett/status/1585400774863061006?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1585400774863061006%7Ctwgr%5Eb74a09d985babc1d058e9c28af31ff7dde19a37b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Ffans-blow-up-after-matthew-perry-slams-keanu-reeves-in-memoir-perry-responds
Perry has since responded to the controversy, trying to cover his butt by putting out a statement saying he hadn’t intended for it to sound like he disliked Reeves.
“I’m actually a big fan of Keanu. I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead,” he stated.
Yeah. Right.
Sounds like a really poor attempt to ensure his book doesn’t flop after its release.
