Matthew Perry’s former assistant Kenneth Iwamasa has claimed that he “simply cannot say no” to the late actor when it comes to drug addiction.
According to TMZ, Iwamasa made this claim to the judge while pleading for leniency during a sentencing hearing scheduled for May 27th.
New court documents obtained by the outlet on Friday show that Iwamasa disagreed with prosecutors’ argument that Perry could have said “no” when they asked him to supply the ketamine that ultimately killed Perry in October 2023.
In his letter, Iwamasa acknowledged that this dynamic had “had tragic consequences.”
He claimed that as an employee of the “Friends” alum, “at all appropriate times he acted at (Perry’s) direction rather than at his own discretion.”
The lawyer also argued that Mr. Iwamasa and Mr. Perry’s employment relationship may have made it “easier for them to participate in the conspiracy to distribute drugs to the victims than to the men on the street,” but added that “many of the proverbial men on the street were actually participating in the same conspiracy.”
He further argued that Iwamasa’s “rhetoric” of his inability to say “no” ignored “his particular vulnerability to the relationship dynamics he found himself in with his victims.”
Iwamasa’s plea comes just days after the late actor’s mother, Suzanne Perry, criticized his behavior at her son’s funeral.
On Wednesday, the 82-year-old wrote and read an emotional victim impact statement as Mr Iwamasa was sentenced for helping supply a lethal dose of ketamine.
“He insisted on speaking at Matthew’s funeral,” the letter, included in court documents obtained by Page Six, said. “He was clinging to me and my family like he was a good person trying to save Matthew.”
Suzanne claimed that Iwamasa “kept close tabs” on her after he “murdered” her son.
She claimed she and her family “trusted a man with no conscience” and Matthew “paid the price for it.”
“He’s known Kenny for 25 years, and we’ve known each other for 25 years,” she explained. “Matthew trusted Kenny. We trusted Kenny. Kenny’s most important job so far has been to be an ally and protector in our son’s battle with addiction.”
She claimed that instead of protecting Matthew, Iwamasa “aided and abetted” his addiction.
Matthew, who had openly struggled with drug addiction for decades, was found dead in his Jacuzzi on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54.
A coroner later announced that the “Fool’s Rush In” actor died from “the acute effects of ketamine.”
Matthew’s death certificate listed drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine as other contributing factors.
In 2024, federal prosecutors charged five people with conspiracy and distribution of ketamine in the death of the “17 Again” star.
Iwamasa, drug counselor Eric Fleming, and Dr. Mark Chavez all admitted to the charges.
