As the case against Matthew Perry’s alleged drug dealers winds through court, the role of his assistant Kenneth Iwamasa has prompted renewed conversation about power imbalances in the entertainment industry. Iwamasa admitted to injecting Perry with ketamine — including several times on the day he died — and pleaded guilty less than one year after the Friends star was found dead. To wit, Vanity Fair’s recent article: “Did Matthew Perry’s Assistant Have a Choice? Hollywood Veterans Aren’t So Sure.†Many quoted in the article didn’t think Iwamasa could have opposed his boss, while some felt that his actions were reprehensible — however powerless he might have felt.
The discourse unfolding comes several weeks after Los Angeles federal prosecutors announced on August 15 that five were charged in Perry’s death on October 28, 2023, three of whom, including Iwamasa, have either pleaded guilty or plan to in the case. Two charged, Salvador “Dr. P†Plasencia and Jasveen Sangha — an alleged Special K peddler known as “the Ketamine Queenâ€â€” have pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors painted a picture of callous enablement that eventually ended in Perry’s tragic demise. The duo, officials alleged, knowingly seized on Perry’s vulnerabilities to line their own pockets.
Wait, go back: Who is charged with what?
Sangha is charged with distribution of the ketamine that caused Perry’s death. Plasencia is charged with ketamine distribution and altering and falsifying documents relating to the federal investigation. Prosecutors claim that in late 2023, Plasencia learned that Perry was interested in getting ketamine. They allege that he used his network — which included the former owner of a ketamine clinic — to get his hands on the powerful narcotic. Eventually, Sangha became one of Plasencia’s distributors for ketamine that went to Perry, prosecutors said. Both have pleaded not guilty. They are expected to go on trial in March 2025.
Weren’t other people involved?
Yes: Erik Fleming, Dr. Mark Chavez, and Kenneth Iwamasa.
Fleming pleaded guilty on August 8 to two counts in Perry’s death: one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Fleming has admitted that he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry, prosecutors said. He also said that he received this ketamine from Sangha and provided 50 vials to Iwamasa, the live-in personal assistant. Fleming distributed half of these vials just four days before Perry’s death. Iwamasa was key to this enterprise, working with Sangha, Fleming, and Plasencia to sell Perry ketamine.
Chavez agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. In Chavez’s plea agreement, he admitted to selling ketamine to Plasencia, which included some that he steered away from his onetime clinic. And he got his hands on still more ketamine for Plasencia with misrepresentations to a legitimate wholesale distributor — and making a false prescription in the name of an ex-patient without their knowing.
On August 7, Iwamasa pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, and he copped to repeatedly injecting his late boss with ketamine without medical training, including multiple shots on the day Perry died.
What does the text-message evidence against them reveal?
In a superseding indictment against Plasencia and Jasveen Sangha, prosecutors detailed a lot of text messages alleging the drug conspiracy. When he found out that Perry wanted ketamine, Plasencia allegedly texted Chavez on September 30, 2023, saying, “I wonder how much this moron will pay†and “lets find out.†That same day, Chavez allegedly sent a photo of ketamine lozenges — which he allegedly landed with a bogus prescription — to Plasencia. Via text, they also arranged to meet so that Plasencia could get liquid ketamine. They met up and Chavez sold Plasencia “at least†four vials of liquid ketamine, lozenges, gloves, and needles, court papers charge. That same day, Plasencia texted Perry saying that he would leave the vials with him for self-administration. “I will give you first dose if you would like and leave supplies with you,†prosecutors charge that he texted Perry. Plasencia allegedly showed Iwamasa how to inject Perry with ketamine and left drugs and syringes with him. Plasencia texted Chavez later in the day, describing his meeting with Perry as being “like a bad movie,†prosecutors claim.
The charging paperwork lists numerous other texts between the alleged pushers. Iwamasa allegedly texted Plasencia in early October 2023 saying, “Want to end up with 8 bottles of dr pepper, not just 8 sessions.†(Dr. Pepper was a code name for the drug.) Before meeting with Perry again, Plasencia allegedly told Chavez “if today goes well we may have repeated business.†Plasencia and Iwamasa allegedly chatted in texts about injecting Perry with ketamine and efforts to get more. At one point, Plasencia even injected Perry with ketamine in a car parked in a public lot, prosecutors said.
When did things escalate with Jasveen Sangha?
Iwamasa then sought to get ketamine from Fleming, texting him on October 10, “How much do you want per bottle and what is the nice tip you want.†Fleming, in turn, texted Sangha asking whether she had any ketamine; they subsequently discussed prices, prosecutors said. “It’s unmarked but it’s amazing — he take one and try it and I have more if he likes,†Sangha allegedly told Fleming in a text. In turn, Fleming messaged Iwamasa, saying, “just got this from my person. She only deal[s] with high end and celebs. If it were not great stuff she’d lose her business.†Fleming ultimately got ketamine from Sangha and then brought it to Perry’s house, per court papers. Later that month, after she learned about Perry’s October 28 death, Sangha allegedly texted Fleming, instructing him, “Delete all our messages.â€
Prosecutors said that Fleming kept communicating with Sangha. On October 30, he allegedly texted her, apparently not too worried about facing criminal penalties: “Please call … Got more info and want to bounce ideas off you. I’m 90% sure everyone is protected,†he wrote. “I never dealt with [Perry.]. Only his Assistant. So the Assistant was the enabler. Also they are doing a 3 month tox screening … Does K stay in your system or is it immediately flushed out[?].â€
What are people saying about Perry’s assistant?
Iwamasa’s involvement has spurred discourse questioning whether he’s a victim of some sort. One insider told Vanity Fair, “When I heard Perry’s assistant was arrested, I thought, But that guy was following the orders of his boss … To be honest, I might have done the same thing.†One assistant described the extreme pressures that they faced in their jobs and said following Perry’s death, they asked themselves what they would do in the same position. “There were seven of us at dinner. Four of us said we would have probably done it. Three said they hoped they would have established a boundary earlier, before it got to that point,†this source said. Some in the assistant world didn’t feel torn about the situation at all, however. Brian Daniel, who coordinates celebrity assistant jobs, described the situation as the “deepest betrayal that I can possibly think of.â€
Have other assistants chimed in?
Rowena Chiu, a former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, has also spoken out about the power imbalance that puts assistants in a precarious position of having to go along with their bosses lest their worlds collapse. “Very few people have firsthand insight into the toxic dynamic that can develop while assisting a celebrity or understand the inherent power imbalance that can arise. I do,†Chiu wrote in a New York Times op-ed. Chiu said that she worked for Weinstein over a two-month period in 1998 and that he tried to rape her. She couldn’t speak out until 2019 due to a nondisclosure agreement. “I witnessed the many ways in which his celebrity and power warped the behavior of people around him and how, as his assistant, I was considered to be less than a person.â€
“Of course, there is a critical distinction between Mr. Perry, an addict, and Mr. Weinstein, a rapist. Mr. Perry wasn’t the criminal that Mr. Weinstein is, and his former employee (and others) are being charged as his enablers, not being put in the spotlight as his victims,†Chiu continued. “But when I read about Mr. Iwamasa’s indictment, I understood all too well that an assistant to a celebrity can be expected to do whatever is asked of them, regardless of ethics or legality … I’m not surprised that Mr. Iwamasa pleaded guilty. The assistant, who is usually invisible, is suddenly center stage, the last place he or she is equipped to be. Along with invisible, the assistant can also be penniless, powerless and a vulnerable target. It’s far too easy to turn the butler into the scapegoat.â€
What have the accused said about the case?
Stefan Sacks, Plasencia’s attorney, slammed the allegations and insisted on his client’s innocence. “The allegations against Dr. Plasencia are untrue and an example of government overreach. Dr. Plasencia treated Mr. Perry for a short time and then stopped,†Sacks said in an email. “During the next several weeks Mr. Perry sought out and purchased large quantities of ketamine from a known drug dealer, the Ketamine Queen, and it is that ketamine which Mr. Perry used on the day of his unfortunate death. My client is an innocent man who was practicing medicine and caring for his patient.â€
Sangha’s legal team did not comment when contacted by Vulture. Her lawyer, Mark Geragos, told Newsweek on Wednesday, “Even though I give the US Attorney an A for creativity in nicknaming her in the indictment ‘The Ketamine Queen,’ there’s no basis for that,†he said. “The coroner’s report does not reflect the homicide. It reflects an accidental death. I think all of these so-called urban legends that somehow my client knew Matthew Perry are demonstrably false.â€