Matthew Perry Says He Spent $9 Million Trying To Get Sober

Matthew Perry has shared that he's spent around $9 million throughout his life trying to get sober from his addictions to alcohol and drugs. During a recent interview with the New York Times about his upcoming memoir, the Friends star revealed he's been 18 months sober and was newly sober when the highly-anticipated Friends reunion aired in May 2021.

“I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober," Perry said. Writer Elisabeth Egan also explained, "Most addicts don’t have Perry’s resources. But they have what he called “the gift of anonymity,” while his bleakest moments have been photographed, chronicled and occasionally mocked."

The interview also revealed that Perry doesn't care for the secrecy in Alcoholics Anonymous, where he sponsors three members. "It suggests that there’s a stigma and that we have to hide. This is not a popular opinion, by the way.”

In another interview earlier this month, the actor opened up about the near-death experience he suffered that landed him in a coma. Despite going to rehab 15 times over the years, his addiction got so bad that he nearly died a few years ago when he was just 49 after his colon burst due to opioid overuse, landing him in a coma for two weeks where had a "2 percent chance to live." He ended up spending five months in the hospital and was forced to use a colostomy bag for nine months. Perry overcame the odds to survive is "grateful to be alive," even as he's had 14 surgeries on his stomach over the years that left behind scars that serve as "a lot of reminders to stay sober."

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Perry comes out on November 1st.