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Matthew Perry Reveals He Spent an Estimated $9 Million on Sobriety Journey

Matthew Perry Reveals He Spent an Estimated $9 Million on Sobriety Journey

Matthew Perry's road to sobriety has been both challenging and shockingly expensive.

Speaking with The New York Times in a recent interview, ahead of the release of his forthcoming memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry explained how much it took to get him to kick his vices.

"I've probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober," Perry revealed.

The Friends alum detailed his long history with substance abuse, beginning with drinking at age 14 and later having an addiction to painkillers which lead to multiple hospitalizations and medical emergencies.

According to Perry, he's now been sober since early 2021, shortly before shooting the highly publicized Friends reunion special for HBO, which aired in May 2021.

Perry also sat down with Diane Sawyer for an ABC News interview, where he opened up about his addiction during the filming of the beloved sitcom, and how his co-stars tried to intervene.

In a recently released preview of the 53-year-old actor's upcoming interview -- slated to air Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC -- Perry reveals Jennifer Aniston was the one who reached out the most when his drinking spiraled out of control.

Perry -- who confirmed taking Methadone, Xanax and consuming a "full quart of vodka" a day in addition to 55 Vicodin a day -- admitted Aniston told him, "We know you're drinking."

"Yeah," Perry confirmed. "Imagine how scary a moment that was. She was the one that reached out the most. I'm really grateful to her for that."

Back in 2021, Aniston said she didn't understand the "self-torture" Perry went through while on Friends.

"I didn’t understand the level of anxiety and self-torture [that] was put on Matthew Perry if he didn’t get that laugh, and the devastation that he felt,” Aniston said on the Today show. "[But it] makes a lot of sense."

In the interview with Sawyer, Perry also said he was "in a coma and escaped death narrowly."

The actor's opening up like never before ahead of the release of his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, out Nov. 1.

Perry also opened up to People about his struggles with alcohol and opioids. He was 24 when he landed the iconic role of Chandler Bing, but Perry was already struggling with heavy alcohol use. The situation turned dire when he turned to Vicodin and got down to 128 pounds.

Although his addiction continued well past his time on Friends, and he faced a near-death experience just a few years ago as a result of his battle with addiction. In the book, Perry recalls suffering a gastrointestinal perforation at age 49 when his colon burst from opioid overuse. The actor fought for his life, spending two weeks in a coma and five months in the hospital, and had to use a colostomy bag for nine months. 

"The doctors told my family that I had a two percent chance to live," he told People. "I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that's called a Hail Mary. No one survives that."

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