Matthew Perry Felt He 'Failed' Before Untimely Death as Actor 'Didn't Understand' He Was 'Someone Who Was Loved,' Stepfather Keith Admits

The one where Matthew Perry figured out how much he was loved never got to happen before his devastating death last year.

After marking the somber first anniversary of the Friends star's October 2023 passing, his stepfather, Keith Morrison, opened up about Perry's self-imposing struggles with realizing how supported he was by his loved ones and fans.

Morrison, a Canadian broadcast journalist and NBC Dateline correspondent, revealed to a news publication on Tuesday, October 29, that his stepson "truly didn't" know the extent at which he was loved by friends, family and fans alike.

"There was a period where you'd pick up a tabloid and you'd see a picture of an overweight actor looking not great, walking along the street or going to a restaurant," Morrison recalled regarding Perry. "And he, I think, had [felt] that he failed. He didn't understand that he was somebody who was loved — he would never have believed it."

Looking back, Morrison thinks it was Perry's raw discussion of his addiction issues that brought a new level of understanding about the actor as an individual.

"It was brutally out there and he seemed to be at a place where he had finally beaten it," the 17 Again star's stepdad explained. "I think he put that in the book in a way, hoping that he would beat this. Maybe if I say it in public, if I say it in a book, if they remind me of it all the time, maybe I can succeed."

"He put it all out there," Morrison emphasized, which is why even he could admit there was unfortunately always a level of preparation for the worst to come.

"Matthew said to us — and he said it publicly, 'That if I die suddenly you may be shocked, but you probably won't be surprised,'" Morrison confessed. "So it's that kind of thing."

Although Perry was a well-known, A-list celebrity at the time of his death, Morrison said the experience of losing him is just like any other heartbreaking loss.

"We are like millions and millions of families who wake up one morning and get a phone call that their loved one had suddenly died from a drug overdose," Morrison noted. "It tears you apart."

"Matthew's mother will never be the same," Keith mentioned of his wife, Suzanne Morrison. "And every day, every minute, he's on her mind. He's on my mind. He's on all of our minds."

"We're not unique," the news broadcaster continued. "Our son was famous. And those I meet on the streets who say, 'I'm sorry for your loss,' I appreciate every single one of them."

"Somehow I want them to know that I completely understand that we are just one family among millions who have suffered this same kind of loss and we're one family because we know that his dying wish was to be remembered for helping other people, more than his famousness for Friends," Keith added. "That has now become our mission in life, to carry that wish on."

People spoke to Matthew's stepfather.