The one with the toothache
Dental work blamed for Perry’s slurring
Matthew Perry had a perfectly reasonable excuse for appearing dazed and slurry in a recent promo for Thursday’s Friends reunion special — he had been at the dentist. After fans speculated that Perry, who has struggled with substance abuse in his past, may have relapsed, the U.K. Sun tabloid is reporting the 51-year-old’s speech issues were a result of emergency dental work.
“Matthew turned up to the reunion (in April) and members of his team said that he had an emergency tooth procedure that day,” an insider said. “That was said to impact his well-being and also how he was feeling.”
The source continued, “He had been in pain, from what we understand, which caused the slurred speech. Obviously, no one wants to film after a procedure, but it happened. The feeling was one of huge sympathy for Matthew, especially in recent days given how people have reacted online.
“Matthew has told those around him that he is sober, and there is no need to worry.”
Friends fans were worried for Perry after the Emmy nominee appeared to slur his words in a video clip released by People magazine.
When asked whether he had ever stolen anything from the set of the long-running sitcom, Perry sounded dazed as he replied, “I stole the cookie jar that had the clock in it.”
“It’s very sad to see Matthew Perry like this,” one fan wrote on Youtube with another adding, “It hurts to look at him.”
“He is not well at all,” a third worried.
Perry — who played Chandler Bing in the NBC series and features in the special alongside his co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Leblanc and David Schwimmer — was open about his struggle with drugs and alcohol in the past, revealing he went to rehab in 1997 and 2001. “Somewhere between season 3 and 6 … I was a little out of it,” he told BBC Radio 2 in 2016. “I’m a pretty private person, but I was on a TV show that 30 million people were watching so people
HE HAD AN EMERGENCY TOOTH PROCEDURE THAT DAY.
knew. It was very public what was happening to me.”
He cited a jet ski accident in 1997 as a contributing factor in his addiction struggles.
In 2019, Perry alarmed onlookers after he was spotted out in public looking dishevelled wearing sweatpants, a grey fleece jacket and a T-shirt that had stains around the neckline.
“I’m getting a manicure this morning. That’s OK right?” he posted on Twitter. “I mean it says man right in the word.”