Keith Morrison Addressed Stepson Matthew Perry's Death

Dateline correspondent and Matthew Perry's stepfather Keith Morrison has spoken out about Perry's passing for the first time. In a new interview with Hoda Kotb on her Making Space podcast, Morrison shared that Perry's October 2023 death still affects him "every day."

Dateline correspondent and Matthew Perry's stepfather Keith Morrison has spoken out about Perry's passing for the first time. In a new interview with Hoda Kotb on her Making Space podcast, Morrison shared that Perry's October 2023 death still affects him "every day."

“It’s as other people have told me hundreds of times. It doesn’t go away yet,” he told Kotb of his grief, per Today. “It’s with you every day. It’s with you all the time. And there’s some new aspect of it that assaults your brain, and it’s not easy.”

“It’s especially (not easy) for his mom,” Morrison added about his wife and Perry's mother, Suzanne Langford Perry. “I don’t think I’m giving away too much if I say that toward the end of his life, they were closer than I had seen them for decades, and texting each other constantly and him sharing things with her that most middle-aged men don’t share with their mothers.”

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The Friends star died at 54 from acute effects of ketamine, and over the years, he had been very open about his struggles with addiction. Much of his journey with sobriety was detailed in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. However, Morrison added that Perry was "happy" at the time of his death.

“He was happy, and he said so,” Morrison said. “And he hadn’t said that for a long time. It’s a source of comfort, but also, he didn’t get to have his third act, and that’s not fair. And as he said himself, ‘If if I suddenly died, people would be shocked, but not too many people would be surprised.’ And he was right.”

“He was a larger than life person," he added.

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