Japanese-American Assistant Sentenced to 3 Years and 5 Months for Multiple Ketamine Injections to ‘Friends’ Actor

Matthew Perry, the American actor who played Chandler Bing in the classic sitcom Friends (also known as Six People), was found dead in his home bathtub at the end of October 2023. The cause of death was an overdose of drugs, and he was 54 years old. Kenneth Iwamasa, a Japanese-American personal assistant who had administered drugs to Perry multiple times before his death, was sentenced to 3 years and 5 months in prison on May 28, becoming the fifth person convicted in connection with the case.

According to foreign media reports, the 61-year-old Iwamasa admitted to conspiring to distribute ketamine and acknowledged that he did not have any medical qualifications. He also admitted that he discovered Perry had passed out several times after injections but still continued to supply him with drugs. Prosecutors said that in the days leading up to Perry’s death, Iwamasa had injected him with ketamine at least 25 times, three of which were on the day Perry died. After the incident, Iwamasa tried to clean up the scene and destroy evidence.

Iwamasa choked up in court as he apologized: “I am truly very sorry. I will regret my illegal actions for the rest of my life, and I will carry this sense of guilt to my grave.”

Perry’s mother said: “We trusted someone who was completely without a conscience, and my son paid the price for it.” Perry’s stepfather harshly criticized Iwamasa for not only failing to stop their son’s worsening addiction but for continually supplying drugs: “You could have made that call for help, but instead you chose to continue living the good life in his mansion.”