Matthew Perry’s friend Athenna Crosby spent time with the beloved actor just one day before his apparent drowning — and she exclusively tells Us Weekly that the Friends star was looking forward to his “second act” before his untimely death.
“He was talking the whole time and was super excited to be hanging out,” Crosby, 25, exclusively told Us Weekly, noting they met through a mutual pal. “It was great. He was in a good state of mind and talking about his life and sharing with me funny stories about his time in the industry.”
She added: “He was talking about how excited he was to have a second act and had struggles that inhibited his acting aspirations but had turned it all around and was looking forward to getting back into it full swing.”
According to Crosby, she had not known Perry for very long. Their Friday, October 27, lunch outing at the Hotel Bel-Air was the second time they met up in person. While she admitted that Perry was “so private,” he had been open about his past struggles. (Perry long struggled with addiction, even going to rehab twice.)
“He was very healthy and talking about how he was looking forward to hitting the pickleball court and how he had gotten very into it,” Crosby, a model and former beauty queen, told Us. “He was telling me I needed to try it and it was fun. He said he was losing weight and getting in shape. … He was in a positive place and doing so good [and] was being extra healthy.”
Perry even told Crosby that he had “really come back strong from” his struggles with alcohol. “He said for a lot of years he was lost in the addiction and how he fully came out on the other side,” she recalled. “He was clean and didn’t order a drink. In fact, he didn’t even want a drink menu. He was taking all the temptation out of his life.”
News broke one day later on Saturday, October 28, that Perry had died at the age of 54. According to multiple reports, local law enforcement officers responded to a cardiac arrest call at Perry’s Los Angeles home. The actor was found unresponsive in a hot tub when the police arrived. The county’s medical examiner later confirmed on Sunday, October 29, that Perry had died on the scene. A cause of death has not been revealed.
“I was shocked. I had to hear it from the news first. I thought it was so devastating,” Crosby recalled of finding out that Perry had died. “At the time, I had to pull [my car] over and read it and ask myself if it was true. It’s so disturbing because I had just spoken to him hours before he passed.”
During their final conversation, Crosby noted that Perry seemed “normal and fine.” She reiterated: “He was such a good person.”
Our special issue dedicated to Matthew Perry is available now.
With reporting by Andrea Simpson
