A sad day.
The surf world is reeling, tonight, after the revelation that Matthew Perry has drowned. The beloved Friend roiled the selfsame surf world less than one year ago when he took a vicious swipe at hero Keanu Reeves. “Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?” Perry wrote in his memoir.
Surf fans, of course, venerate Reeves as a saint after his portrayal of Johnny Utah in Point Break, which remains the best surf movie ever made.
The tribal furiousness at the bash forced surf fans to round on the man who played Chandler Bing. Protests were in the process of being organized, acts of civil disobedience in the works, though Perry quickly pivoted and said he was sorry.
“It was a mean thing to do,” he declared to a live audience about smearing Reeves. “I pulled his name because I live on the same street. I’ve apologized publicly to him. Any future versions of the book will not have his name in it.”
Surf fans breathed a sigh of relief, happy not to lose Perry, and settled back into binge watching Serving Sarah.
Mourning, then, understandable when, hours ago, reports filtered out that the 54-year-old was found dead in his Hollywood home. He had come home in the morning, apparently, after playing pickelball for two plus hours. His assistant ran out on some errands, came back and found the actor drowned in his jacuzzi.
According to TMZ, no drugs were found at the scene.
A pure tragedy, then, one that will reverberate for some time.
Rest In Peace, Matthew Perry and thanks for the laughs.