Matthew Perry has apologised again for “stupid” and “mean” jibes at Keanu Reeves and said these will not feature in future editions of his book.
The actor wrote in his autobiography Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing that he struggles to comprehend how “talented” River Phoenix has died but Reeves “still walks among us”.
Reeves has not personally commented. While the 58-year-old has never been in the running for an Oscar, he does command a large fanbase and industry respect for roles in films such as Point Break, The Matrix, and Bill & Ted.
“I said a stupid thing,” Perry told the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. “It was a mean thing to do.
“I pulled his name because I live on the same street. I’ve apologised publicly to him.
“Any future versions of the book will not have his name in it.”
“If I run into the guy I’ll apologise [in person]” he added.
What did Matthew Perry say about Keanu Reeves?
Perry is well-known for playing Chandler Bing in the US sitcom Friends but has faced struggles in his personal life, including drug addiction. These hardships were documented in his autobiography. He had acted alongside River Phoenix in the 1988 film A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon.
Phoenix died in 1993, aged 23. Reeves was a close friend of Phoenix, having starred together in My Own Private Idaho, and has often paid tribute to the late actor.
“I hate speaking about him in the past,” the actor told Esquire, when speaking of his grief in 2021. “So I almost always gotta keep it present.”
In Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, however, Perry wrote: "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.”
He added: "Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?"
Ledger died in 2008 from an accidental prescription medication overdose.
Perry had previously apologised for the jibe in October last year when the book had been first released. He made the comment about the future editions of the autobiography this week in a chat with the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
Reeves’s name was used to place-fill for a random actor, he has said, adding: “I should have used my name instead.”
