Matthew Perry has issued an apology after excerpts from his upcoming memoir were released that take a swipe at actor Keanu Reeves.
“I’m actually a big fan of Keanu,” Perry said in a statement to our sister site Deadline. “I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”
In an excerpt from the Friends star’s memoir, titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing (due to be released next Tuesday), Perry laments the untimely deaths of talented actors like River Phoenix, who Perry worked with on 1988’s A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon: “Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?”
Later in the book, Perry recalls hearing that his Almost Heroes costar Chris Farley had died of a drug overdose: “I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us.”
Perry’s memoir also details his own long struggle with drug addiction, including several moments where he nearly lost his life to the disease. He’s set to sit down with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer for an hour-long interview special airing this Friday at 8/7c on ABC.