Keith Morrison, a veteran Dateline correspondent and stepfather of friends late actor Matthew Perry AKA Chandler Bing, talked in an interview with “TODAY” show co-anchor Hoda Kotb on an episode of her “Making Spaces” podcast about Perry’s addiction and his yearslong belief that he is overcoming it.
Keith Morrison interview with Hoda Kotb
“He felt like he was beating it,” Morrison told “TODAY” show co-anchor Hoda Kotb, “But you never beat it, and he knew that, too.” Keith Morrison said his grief is still there. “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 said. “It’s not easy.”
Matthew Perry was open about his alcoholism and substance addiction. On October 28, He died at 54 due to acute effects of Ketamine. the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office said in an autopsy report released in December. The report said drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, a synthetic opioid, contributed to his death.
Keith Morrison, since 1981, was married to Perry’s mother Suzanne Perry Morrison. He told Hoda Kotb that his stepson “didn’t get to have his third act, and that’s not fair.” In late 2022, Perry published a memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” which chronicled his upbringing in Canada, as well as his rise to fame, addiction challenges and recovery.
Keith Morrison revealed that Perry and his mother were closer than ever weeks before his death. They continuously texting each other and Perry shared all those stuff which usually middle aged guy like him don’t do with their parents.
Morrison said he can still feel “the echo” of Perry’s presence in his day-to-day life, remembering his stepson as a “larger-than-life person” who always “lit up a room.” Morrison described Perry and his relationship as Chalk and Cheese. He was loud and out there and funny and aggressive. Morrison recalled taking young Matthew to hockey game and if Perry failed to score a single goal, He’ll scream, got angry and didn’t talk to anyone all day.
“That’s a whirlwind of a life, to get involved in a program that became as wildly successful as it was, to be fighting an addiction that was so virulent, that went after him so hard,” Keith Morrison said, adding that Perry would get to a “certain point” when he knew he needed to get treatment and “accept help when he needed it.”
Lastly, He said, he tried to support Perry “as much as possible” over the years. but It was a tough thing … a big, terrible thing.
