One of the five people facing major criminal charges in the death of Matthew Perry reportedly used a really upsetting name as the code word to refer to him.
That’s according to new court documents filed in defendant Erik Fleming‘s plea agreement. Fleming is one of the five people who have been caught up legally in the aftermath of the Friends star’s death last October from a ketamine overdose. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. And now, he’s revealing all about the alleged operation that led to Perry’s addiction battle and eventual death.
According to Page Six, which first obtained these new court docs on Thursday, Fleming claimed to cops that the so-called “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha, who has also been indicted in Perry’s death and thus far pleaded not guilty, chose to use his sitcom fame to refer to him. Fleming claimed Sangha identified Perry when it came time to allegedly distribute drugs by “using a name of a well-known character that [Perry] portrayed in a television series.” Oof.
Now, Fleming’s plea agreement with the cops doesn’t specifically indicate which character name that would be. In addition to his role on Friends, Perry did have star turns on other television series, including The Odd Couple, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and Go On.
But, like, come on. How could the code name NOT be the iconic Chandler Bing? Who can even name his characters in any of those other projects??
TBH, that makes Perry’s death even a little more heartbreaking than it already has been for Friends fans. To know he was losing the battle of addiction to the point of death while those around him were allegedly pushing him further and further for profit AND making light of his career while doing it is just… horrific. Ugh.
FWIW, per Page Six, the Department of Justice has not commented on these plea agreement docs, or confirmed which sitcom series character name was used as Sangha’s alleged code. Regardless, this whole thing remains so damn sad. Our hearts are breaking all over again for Perry’s family, friends, and loved ones amid all these new criminal case reveals. We can’t even imagine how hard it is for them (and for Friends fans) to re-open all those wounds again.