sobriety

Matthew Perry Spent $9 Million Getting Sober

Photo: Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images

We must have skipped “The One Where Matthew Perry Makes Enough Money to Get Sober†in our rewatch. Perry (famous for playing Chandler Bing on Friends) has a book coming out on November 1, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. The memoir spends time focusing on an aspect of Perry’s private life that has become well known since his time on the iconic ’90s show: his recovery from addiction. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Perry revealed that over his lifetime, he has “probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober.†The article notes that by age 49, Perry had spent “more than half of his life in treatment centers or sober living facilities.†Despite this, fans can rest easy knowing that Perry is now doing better. At the time of the interview, he said he had been clean for 18 months, and, as far as money goes, well, each member of the cast of Friends was making $1 million per episode at the show’s peak. Plus Perry has the support of actual friends like Lisa Kudrow (who played Phoebe Buffay on the show), who told the Times, “I love Matthew a lot. We’re part of a family. I’m basically ending this with ‘I’ll be there for you’ [the ‘Friends’ theme song], but it’s true. I’ll always be there for him.â€

Matthew Perry Spent $9 Million Getting Sober