Update: Matthew Perry, A Lost Friend

Summary

Infamous – “Update: Matthew Perry, A Lost Friend”

Original Release: June 4, 2026
Hosts: Vanessa Grigoriadis, Natalie Robehmed
Guest: Sarah O’Brien (Wall Street Journal)

---

Episode Overview

This episode of Infamous revisits the tragic death of Matthew Perry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing in “Friends.” The hosts provide an update following the recent sentencing of key figures involved in the events that led to Perry’s fatal overdose. Through an in-depth conversation with investigative reporter Sarah O’Brien, the episode explores Perry’s struggle with addiction, the role of his assistant and enablers, the shadowy world of Hollywood drug rings, and the blurred boundaries and ethical lapses among personal assistants and medical professionals. The story offers a wider reflection on celebrity, addiction, power dynamics, and the commercialization of emerging therapeutic drugs like ketamine.

---

1. Background: The Death of Matthew Perry and Legal Aftermath

[00:35 – 02:24]

• Recap of Perry’s Death: Matthew Perry was found dead in his hot tub in October 2023 after receiving a large dose of ketamine.
• Sentencing Updates:
  • Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s assistant, received nearly 3.5 years in prison for obtaining and administering the drug.
  • Jasveen Sangha (“the Ketamine Queen”) was sentenced to 15 years for supplying the drugs.
  • Eric Fleming, the middleman, received 2.5 years.
  • Dr. Salvador Plasencia (“Dr. P”) got 2.5 years for illegally supplying ketamine; another involved doctor received home confinement.
• Themes Introduced: The illicit drug ring in LA, ketamine’s dual role as therapy and substance of abuse, and the all-consuming role of celebrity assistants.

---

2. Matthew Perry’s Life, Career & Onscreen Persona

[02:24 – 04:13]

• Perry’s Friends Legacy: Perry’s character Chandler Bing was beloved for his humor and physical comedy.
  • Vanessa recalls, “He was, I always thought, the cutest one, the funniest one, the one I liked. Blue eyes and a great sense of humor…” (Vanessa, 03:40)
• Signs of Trouble: Observers and fans noted the visible fluctuations in Perry’s weight and appearance throughout the “Friends” seasons—public manifestations of his addiction.
• Perry’s Deflection via Comedy: His humor was both an onscreen trait and a real-life coping mechanism.
• A More Serious Side: The show's storyline (Chandler’s romance with Monica) allowed Perry to show depth, culminating in emotional moments replayed in the episode.

---

3. Struggles with Addiction: Insights from Perry’s Memoir

[07:30 – 10:24]

• Memoir Themes: Perry’s Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is a raw account of his battles with drugs and alcohol.
  • Perry attended 6,000 AA meetings, did 15 rehabs, spent $7–9 million trying to get sober, and underwent severe medical crises.
  • “The problem remains, though. I’m there wherever I go… first thing I used to do when I looked at houses… was go through the homeowner’s medicine cabinets…” (Matthew Perry, 08:21)
• His Efforts to Recover: Friends recall him genuinely trying to help others and work through the AA program, but addiction’s grip was relentless.
• Recurring Pattern: Perry’s cycles of seeking external fixes—rehabs, new homes, new locales—never yielded permanent relief.

---

4. The Descent: Ketamine’s Legal and Illicit Use

[10:24 – 14:33]

• Ketamine Therapy's Dual Nature:
  • Originally introduced to Perry as a legal infusion in rehab, which he described as “a giant happy shovel,” the therapy rapidly blurred into abuse.
  • “He was trying to get it to inject every day, it seems like.” (Sarah O’Brien, 15:39)
• From Clinics to the Underground:
  • Perry transitioned from clinic-administered (legal) ketamine to sourcing it from multiple doctors and black-market dealers.

---

5. Enablers and the “Ketamine Queen”: Hollywood’s Underworld

[14:33 – 23:02]

• Network of Suppliers:
  • Perry’s assistant personally facilitated procurements, drove him to surreptitious medical appointments, and even injected him with ketamine in unconventional settings.
  • The middleman, Eric Fleming—a former producer—connected Perry’s circle to Sangha.
• Jasveen Sangha (“Ketamine Queen”) Profile:
  • Highly educated, with an MBA and a glamorous online persona—designer brands, jet-setting, and high-profile friends.
  • Ties to Hollywood elite (photos with Charlie Sheen, trips with Perla Hudson).
  • When raided, authorities found drugs (ketamine, cocaine, Xanax), weapons, and evidence of large-scale distribution.
  • Sangha’s criminal activity began as early as 2019; previous deaths linked to her ketamine supply indicated longstanding risks.
• Doctors Compromised:
  • Licensed professionals (“Dr. P” and others) were not only supplying vast quantities of ketamine but also discussing Perry in demeaning, profit-driven terms.
    • “I wonder how much this moron will pay.” (Text message exchange between doctors, 26:34)

---

6. Perry’s Last Days: Final Events and Fallout

[24:07 – 27:54]

• Day of Death:
  • Perry’s assistant injected him before he entered the hot tub.
  • After his death, there was an attempt by Sangha and Fleming to erase evidence—“They hopped on an encrypted phone call through Signal and discussed ‘let’s delete our chats about this’...” (Sarah O’Brien, 24:37)
• Legal Outcomes:
  • Final sentences delivered or pending.
  • Doctors and Sangha potentially facing trial; assistants and intermediaries pleated guilty and agreed to testify.

---

7. Complicity and Culpability: The Assistant’s Dilemma

[31:10 – 34:14]

• Hollywood Assistant Culture:
  • Assistants are often placed in impossible positions by high-profile employers.
  • “It’s really hard for anybody outside of Hollywood… to understand just how much these high-level talent and executives demand of their assistants.” (Natalie, 32:07)
  • The role typically blurs boundaries: emotional support, personal aide, confidant—and, at times, an unwilling accomplice.
• Power Imbalances:
  • Discussion of Vanity Fair’s “Did Matthew Perry’s Assistant Have a Choice?”
  • “When this person is your employer, are you actually allowed to say no?... he told his assistant, ‘shoot me up with a big one.’ And could the assistant say no to that? I don’t know.” (Natalie, 33:01)
  • Longevity of relationship (25+ years) and the unique dynamics of loyalty, codependency, and influence.

---

8. Ketamine Therapy: Medical Trend or Risky Business?

[34:14 – 36:33]

• Therapeutic Context:
  • Ketamine therapy, when performed in clinical, integrated settings, is intended for depression and PTSD, with strict medical oversight.
  • “My understanding of it is, is people receive a series of ketamine transfusions… and ideally, they also receive a lot of integration and therapeutic sessions.” (Natalie, 34:24)
• Emerging Controversies:
  • Accessibility via telehealth and social media marketing has increased, sometimes making it easier for those with abuse potential to access drugs under medical pretense.
• Psychedelics Trend:
  • Ketamine is part of a larger movement to reevaluate substances like LSD, MDMA, and psilocybin for clinical use—raising both hopes and concerns about regulation and misuse.

---

9. Reflections: Perry’s Legacy and the Cost of Fame

[27:54 – 30:53]

• The Toll of Celebrity:
  • Perry sought anonymity in recovery but was always the center of public curiosity and expectation.
  • His fame was both a privilege and a prison—“He was a victim of his own success.” (Sarah O’Brien, 28:25)
• Intimacy with the Public:
  • “People felt like they knew him… because of the role that he played on Friends… they felt like they had this deep familiarity.” (Sarah O’Brien, 28:30)
  • Anecdote: Even in celebrity-packed VIP rooms, Perry drew more attention than bigger film stars because “he was the same person in their living room for decades.”
• Ironic Hope:
  • Despite a vulnerable and hopeful tone in his memoir, Perry’s battles ultimately proved fatal—“It’s also very chilling that his memoir feels like it ends on a hopeful note… and it came out only a year prior to his passing.” (Sarah O’Brien, 30:33)

---

10. Memorable Quotes

• “He was constantly searching for something that could help him.” (Vanessa, 08:49)
• “The problem remains, though. I’m there wherever I go.” (Matthew Perry, 08:21)
• “Julia Roberts is my girlfriend. It doesn’t matter. You have to drink.” (Matthew Perry, 13:12)
• “It’s just so sad that he ended up dying with all these low-lives and hangers-on and no friends around him.” (Vanessa, 30:33)
• “When you’re shooting your boss up with drugs, you’ve really lost the plot.” (Vanessa, 33:21)
• “My understanding of it is, is people receive a series of ketamine transfusions… and ideally, they also receive… therapeutic sessions with therapists and licensed professionals.” (Natalie, 34:24)

---

11. Key Timestamps

• [00:35] – Case summary and legal updates
• [07:30 – 10:24] – Perry’s memoir and addiction narrative
• [13:12] – Perry’s audiobook: The loneliness and lure of substances
• [15:01] – Interview: Sarah O’Brien on ketamine’s journey from therapy to addiction
• [19:57] – Jasveen Sangha’s backstory and Instagram persona
• [21:16] – Drug raid details and evidence found
• [24:07] – Perry’s final day and aftermath
• [26:34] – Doctors’ text: “I wonder how much this moron will pay”
• [31:10] – Discussion: Assistant’s culpability and Hollywood’s unique ecosystem
• [34:14] – Ketamine therapy vs. recreational use; emerging medical trend
• [36:33] – Reflections: The normalization and marketing of “therapeutic” drugs

---

12. Closing Thoughts

The episode weaves a cautionary tale around the seductions and dangers of celebrity, addiction’s inescapable pull, and the ethical pitfalls in the spheres of medicine and Hollywood. Through Perry’s story, listeners witness the tragic frailty behind comedic brilliance, and the ripple effects of blurred personal and professional boundaries in the entertainment industry.

---

[Advertisements, intros, and outros were omitted. Sections represent core content and discussion.]

Transcript

[Ryan Reynolds]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Podcast Sponsor Announcer]

of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail]

[Sarah O'Brien]

campsite media

[Natalie Robomed]

hi everyone. Welcome back to Infamous. We wanted to bring you an update on a story that we covered a while back, which is the very tragic overdose and death of actor Matthew Perry. Perry was found dead in his hot tub in October 2023 after having been injected with large amounts of ketamine. And last week, his live in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa was sentenced to nearly three and a half years in prison for helping obtain and administer the drug that ultimately killed Perry. According to prosecutors, Iwamasa repeatedly injected Matthew Perry with ketamine that he got by way of an intermediary from a woman named Jasveen Sangha, known as the Ketamine Queen. Iwamasa is the last defendant in this case to be sentenced, wrapping up a lengthy criminal case against the drug dealers, doctors and middlemen involved. Jasveen Sangha, the Ketamine queen, was sentenced to 15 years for supplying the drug that killed Perry. Eric Fleming, the middleman who got drugs from Sangha and delivered them to Perry's assistant at a markup, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. A man named Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who we refer to as Dr. P in this episode, got two and a half years for illegally supplying ketamine, while another doctor who played a smaller role was sentenced to home confinement. It's a really sad story, obviously, but also one that exposes a shadowy drug ring operating in la, the legal and not so legal world of ketamine as an emerging therapeutic drug and the boundaryless role of assistance in celebrities lives. Here's the episode from Sony Music Entertainment and Campside Media. This is Infamous. I'm Natalie Robomed.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

And I'm Vanessa Grigoriadis. Matthew Perry was one of the six characters on Friends which I definitely watched a lot of. There are 236 episodes of it. I probably watched like 100.

[Natalie Robomed]

I have watched barely any.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Barely any. Like zero or.

[Natalie Robomed]

I just never got into it.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Do you know the names of the characters I do.

[Natalie Robomed]

And I had a friend growing up whose dog was named Phoebe. So trust me, I know that. It was a cultural phenomenon.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Okay, so, you know, she, like, plays a guitar really badly. They hang out in a coffee shop all the time. Central perk. Yes, central perk. They have one of the most incredible apartments in New York City that they somehow live in even though they're all, like, sort of semi employed. But, yeah, look, it was a huge phenomenon. I mean, it was one of the most popular shows on television for what, 10 seasons? And the six characters are really well cast. That's the thing people always say about it, but it's true. Like, there's Ross, who's the David Schwimmer character who was huge back then. You sort of forget that. Monica, who is Courtney Cox, who's like everybody's best friend, who's supposed to be his sister. Jennifer Aniston, obviously the Rachel haircut. And she's like the sort of spoiled one who's also a waitress. And Joey, who's maybe in some ways the extraneous character. Character who's just like the how you doing? Kind of character. We already talked about Phoebe. And then, of course, there's Matthew Perry, who is, I always thought, the cutest one, the funniest one, the one I liked. Blue eyes and a great sense of humor and a lot of physical slapstick comedy is, like, something I actually really like in a guy. So I gravitated towards him. And, you know, his character is like, I'm the funny one who makes a lot of jokes. Because. Because I don't really know what else to do with myself.

[Natalie Robomed]

To deflect.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

To deflect, Right. Like, that's sort of as far as that character went. But that's also, like, who he was in reality.

[Natalie Robomed]

So tell me about some of those instances where he kind of uses humor

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

to deflect friends in general is a farce. That's like the theatrical category to which it belongs. For example, he has this girlfriend, Janice, who is the character with the annoying voice. But he's telling her that he doesn't want to be together with her.

[Sarah O'Brien]

Here's the thing, Janice.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You know, I mean, it's like we're different, you know? I'm like the bing, bing, B.

[Natalie Robomed]

You're like the boom, boom, boom.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Oh, my God.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm so sorry.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Ow. Are you okay? Ow.

[Sarah O'Brien]

It's just my lens. It's my lens.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

I'll be right back. I hit her in the eye.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I hit her in the eye.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

This is the worst breakup in the history of the world.

[Natalie Robomed]

Yeah, that's definitely slapstick comedy.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

So he's also always getting into trouble. Like, this is some setup where he's, like, handcuffed to Rachel's boss's desk. You don't. But for some reason he's handcuffed there. And Jennifer Aniston is telling him that everybody's gonna know.

[Sarah O'Brien]

There's gonna be rumors about this. There's no way to stop it.

[Natalie Robomed]

Sophie knows.

[Sarah O'Brien]

Monica and Phoebe know.

[Ryan Reynolds]

How do Monica and Phoebe know?

[Sarah O'Brien]

Oh, I called them.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

I mean, they do have very good comedic timing.

[Natalie Robomed]

I was like, perfect timing.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

I read that in GQ or something. Somebody saying, this is like the ultimate drool on the couch tv, meaning it's a thing that you watch that's your comfort food right before you go to slee. Oh, let me see. My little friends doing really low stakes, hilarious things. And of course, the thing that everybody who's watched the show for a long time knows about Matthew Perry, Chandler Bing is the name of his character, is that he ultimately falls in love with Monica Courteney Cox's character. And they have the big wedding that every sitcom has to have. And through that, you know, he shows a more serious side of himself. So here he is proposing to her.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I thought that it mattered what I said or where I said it. Then I realized the only thing that matters is that you. You make me happier than I ever thought I could be.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

So I. I really do love this character. But I have to be honest that as I was watching the show back in the day, it was fairly obvious that something was going on with this guy, right? Because he would in some seasons be extremely heavy, other seasons extremely thin. As he later said, when he's heavy, he's drinking too much. When he's thin, it's pills. Sometimes he had this horrid goatee, and he's like, when I have the goatee, it's lots of pills. Like, that's what was really going on. And so obviously all of that stuff started to come out in all the tabloids and the supermarket magazines. But, you know, I don't think I really had a sense of how deeply he was an addict until I read his book and listened to his book as an audiobook a couple years ago.

[Natalie Robomed]

And so what does he sort of COVID in his memoir?

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Well, it's really a memoir about addiction. It's his story mostly of what happened to him after Friends, which is that he really was lost, right? Like, I mean, these guys were making a million dollars an episode. They had decided to negotiate as six people together. The cast was very close, though it also seems like there was some friction because he was such an addict through so much of this time. As everybody who's listening to this knows who has an addict in their life, it can be really hard to be genuinely close to that person at times. I also want to play a couple of clips from his audiobook, which I found really so disturbing to listen to because, you know, he's talking about all these trials and trials he's had with addiction. And his voice just does not really sound that sober.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The problem remains, though. I'm there wherever I go. I bring along the problems and the darkness and the shit. So every time I leave a rehab, I do a Geographic and buy a new fucking house. And then I live in it. And the first thing I used to do when I looked at houses, which is a hobby of mine, was go through the homeowner's medicine cabinets to see if they had any pills I could purloin.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

I think part of what he thought would change him is like, well, if I just go to this rehab, if I go to Hazelton, if I go to this other rehab in a different country, if I buy a different house, if I move in a different house, I will feel better. He was constantly searching for something that could help him. He said in the book that he had attended 6,000 AA meetings, which is unbelievable. Gone to rehab 15 times, been in detox 65 times. He's even been on life support. I mean, there's some gruesome, gruesome scenes. In this book, he estimated he spent between 7 and 9 million dollars trying to get sober. He had surgeries, his colon exploded. He had 6 inch incision with metal stap. He just is trying and trying and trying to get better. But in a lot of these places, when he goes to a rehab, he'll fake migraines or say he has stomach pain and try to get them to give him pills. Right? He's always trying to do that. So it's really sad. I mean, I talked to somebody who knew him in LA and they said he really was trying to work the program, like the AA program. He was really trying to be observant. He really tried to help other people who were addicts. But there are very few people, to her mind, who tried so hard for so long and could not actually break their addiction.

[Natalie Robomed]

But Matthew Perry's story is more than a tragedy about addiction. It's a story with lots of twists and turns that explores power, fame, and the lengths an assistant will go to to please his boss. It's about where the emerging field of ketamine therapy intersects with substance abuse, what happens when medical doctors appear to violate their Hippocratic oath, and how one drug dealer known as the Ketamine queen launched a deadly trade in Hollywood.

[Podcast Sponsor Announcer]

There are two cats in my apartment so I am constantly dealing with litter boxes. They just always need attention. Honestly, between work life and keeping the whole apartment clean and smelling not like two cats, I don't want litter duty to be something I think about every single day. That's why Whisker Litter Robot makes so much sense. It's perfect for a multi cat home like mine. Litter Robot automatically cycles after each use, so instead of scooping every day, it handles the dirty work for you. And with two cats, that adds up fast. Plus, if you're like me and you obsess over the health of your cats, you can track daily usage statistics and weight information. Maintain your cat's litter while focusing on the things you actually want to focus on. Learn more about Whisker Litter Robot models and starter kits today. To get set up, take an additional $50 off bundles with code infamous when you shop whisker.com infamous that's an additional $50 off bundles with CODE infamous at. Eczema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with epglis, a once monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema after an initial four month or longer dosing phase. About four in 10 people taking Eglis achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks, and most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

Empglis Lebricizumab LBKZ, a 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to ebglis, allergic reactions can occur that can be severe eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with ebglis. Before starting ebglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

[Podcast Sponsor Announcer]

Ask your doctor about ebgliss and visit ebgliss.lily.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

This is infamous from Campside Media.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm constantly filled with a lurking loneliness, a yearning, clinging to the notion that something outside of me will fix me. But I had had all that the outside had to offer. Julia Roberts is my girlfriend. It doesn't matter. You have to drink. I just bought my dream house. It looks across the whole city. Can't enjoy that without a drug dealer. I'm making a million dollars a week. I win, right? Would you like to have a drink? Why, yes, I would. Thank you very much. I'd had it all, but it was all a trick. Nothing was going to fix this.

[Natalie Robomed]

That was Matthew Perry again, from his audiobook. He was an addict during the taping of Friends, which lasted for years and years. But after the show wrapped, he couldn't get his professional footing. And that may have contributed to him falling into a deep and disturbing addiction, the type that takes you far, far away from your friends and towards a class of people who may not have your best interests at heart. To get into what happened to Matthew Perry, Vanessa's going to talk to Sarah o', Brien, a star reporter at the Wall Street Journal. Sarah has reported extensively on Matthew Perry's death, including his use of ketamine, which he bought from a woman called Jasveen Sangha, who's been dubbed the ketamine Queen.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

I will call this woman Sangha. Our guest Sarah, will call her Jasveen, her first name. They are the same person. So, Sarah, tell us how his downfall started. I mean, he, I guess, started going to a clinic to take ketamine, which is technically legal, and people are using it for antidepressant sessions. Right. Intravenous sessions. Like what happened?

[Sarah O'Brien]

You sort of have to start with the backstory of Matthew Perry and his lifelong attempts to kick his addiction. His memoir really details the great lengths he went to over the course of his life to do that. And what's really interesting, in his memoir, which came out in 2020, he notes that he had actually tried ketamine infusions in a rehab center in Switzerland before his book came out and said it wasn't for him. He discussed it as being hit with a. I think he said, like a giant shovel to the head and like being extremely happy, but then the next day experiencing a hangover effect.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Yeah, like a giant happy shuffle, he says.

[Sarah O'Brien]

Right, Right.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Yeah.

[Sarah O'Brien]

Then fast forward to the fall of 2023. We've come to learn through the federal indictment that he was going to great lengths to obtain tons of ketamine. And it sounds like it started with what you said, him going to a doctor's office and getting ketamine infusions, which as you mentioned, can help people that are experiencing severe depression. But then he was also seeking it on the side from other doctors as well as drug dealers. So this is not a case of somebody going into a clinic and waiting a month or so or longer for another session. It was trying to get it to inject every day, it seems like.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

And who were the people around him? Because, you know, of course, he doesn't get the drugs himself. Right?

[Sarah O'Brien]

Yes, that, that is a really important point here. His assistant was somebody who was charged in this case and pleaded guilty. The assistant was a live in assistant to Matthew Perry and was driving him in some cases to get a ketamine shot from a doctor in the back of a vehicle. So Matthew Perry was in the back of a vehicle inside of a parking lot, and this doctor injecting him with ketamine. The assistant was also driving to the Santa Monica promenade and in the late hours of the morning and picking up ketamine vials from a doctor and was also coordinating with a drug dealer to get additional supplies. So there was certainly a web of people that were discussing and trying to get him this drug.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Oh my God, it's so gruesome. It feels like just like such an underbelly. And when you see pictures of one of the dealers who we should discuss her and her whole deal, but when you see her with Charlie Sheen. Right. Like there's a picture of them together, you're just like, oh my God, this is such an underworld of drugs and excess and people who will get you anything you want and parties that go on all night, that underbelly of LA that most of us are never exposed to. Really?

[Sarah O'Brien]

Yeah. I think that's what's been so interesting about the charges and the plea deals so far. Five people were charged in total. Two people have pleaded not guilty and they're slated to go to trial. And then three people have entered guilty pleas. And you start to paint the picture of people that were in the Hollywood periphery. Some of them. One who was sort of the go between drug dealer, was once a Hollywood producer and director that Matthew Perry knew through a mutual acquaintance and then got connected to because the person, his name is Eric Fleming, learned that Matthew Perry was seeking a supply of ketamine. And then Eric knew of the so called ketamine queen, which is this alleged drug dealer that you're talking about who was in the picture with Charlie Sheen. It's sort of unclear what, what she was doing for a living, but she was posting this ostentatious lifestyle on Instagram and seemed to be in the DJ club nightlife scene and apparently was running what federal prosecutors have said is like a large scale drug supply.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

She's sort of incredible looking, like she's of Indian descent. Right. She has both British and American passports. She's these really long, blond, sort of thick hair that almost looks like extensions.

[Sarah O'Brien]

Yeah. So this woman, her name is Jasmine Sangha and she has a public Instagram account where she's posting herself in nightlife sort of settings, but also jet setting to Mexico, Japan. And you can see the, the small details, which is like designer earrings and necklaces and a Dior saddle belt and a Balmain T shirt and Gucci T shirts. And she presents as this wealthy designer label loving person. And there's quite a few photos of her in what appear to be photo shoots, right. Where she's very glammed up and posing. And federal prosecutor have said she, she drove a Range Rover. She was renting a Range Rover at one point and then more recently has leased a 2024 BMW. And one of the reasons why she's in custody now is they said that she's a flight risk because she has this extensive travel history, including frequent trips to places like Mexico and Spain and Dubai. But also she has this British passport too, so they don't want to sort of leave her out until her trial.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Right. And she would go to these places, maybe with Slash's ex wife. Slash from. From Guns n Roses and like, yeah, where would they go together?

[Sarah O'Brien]

So Perla Hudson is Slash's ex wife. We did a deep dive on their social media interactions with each other and found that they've been friends for at least a decade. Just a few weeks before Jasveen's home in North Hollywood was raided, she was on a trip with Perla in Mexico. And they were in this exclusive resort area, Playa del Carmen, and just living it up, right. Having drinks and at the pool and hanging out with someone else who's the founder of an Internet porn company. And seemingly on this dream vacation, Jasmine posted, you know, herself at the airport in the luxury private suite area of lax, having caviar and champagne before her flight. So the two of them went on a lot of adventures together, it seemed, and had nicknames for each other and called each other best friends and we tried repeatedly to get Perla to speak with us, but she declined to comment.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

And Sangha is also. Not only has she been to college, she's got an mba, right, from a school in London. So she has a background, very educated background, but at this point, she's also living in North Hollywood and she's a full drug dealer. Like when they, they go and raid her house, when the feds go, what did they find?

[Sarah O'Brien]

They found all kinds of counterfeit pills. They found Xanax, they found cocaine. They found, I think, 79 vials of ketamine. They found a journal that seemingly hand detailed the drug sales. They found a firearm registered to her boyfriend, who was also there at the time of the raid with Jasmine. They also got her phones and a review of one of the phones. They found videos of, of her cooking ketamine on the stove and also interacting with people on signal to facilitate other drug sales. And that all occurred after the death of Matthew Perry.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Right. So like 2015, she is opening a nail salon called Stiletto Nail Bar on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. And then by 2019, she's allegedly dealing ketamine. Right, because there is somebody else who dies and the family member tells her. Right, right.

[Sarah O'Brien]

So that, that's all part of the federal indictment, is that they believe that she started in like June 2019, and then two months later, August 2019 is the death of this man. His name is Cody McGlory. And he died apparently after procuring ketamine from Jasveen. And a family member texted her and said something along the lines of, you know, you. You killed my brother because of the ketamine you sold. So seemingly there was awareness that something could have happened because of something she sold. Right? And then fast forward, years later, we have Matthew Perry, which obviously drew a lot of scrutiny because of the amount of ketamine that was found in his system.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

Whatever your thing, it could be anything. Canva helps you make that thing a thing. Canva is a simple online tool thing. It's a way to design with our magic AI tool, things you can social media your thing, generate images or videos of your thing, make decks or presentations to show your thing, whatever needs to be done for your thing. Canva can make it an even better and bigger thing. Canva, the thing that makes anything a thing. You thought this was your run club era. Turns out it was more of a thinking about run club era. The good news, someone's marathon training is about to start. Sell your workout gear on Depop. Just snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest. They get their race day fit and you get a payout for trying. Someone on depop wants what you've got. Start selling now, depop, where taste recognizes taste. This is infamous from Campside Media.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Matthew Perry dies on October 28th. His assistant at this point, and God, this is just such a horrible relationship, right, between the assistant who is injecting him with drugs and the man who's paying the bills. And I'm sure it was much more psychologically complicated than I just made it, but he injects him and Perry gets into his backyard hot tub and the assistant goes out and comes back and he's drowned. Right? And I don't know how she found out. Maybe from the news.

[Sarah O'Brien]

So she, she did find out from the news. And then at that point, she was interacting with Eric Fleming, the actual go between dealer, right? Between Matthew Perry's assistant and her. They hopped on an encrypted phone call through signal and discussed sort of like, let's delete our, you know, our chats about this. Trying to distance themselves from what happened and trying to kind of, you know, protect themselves, for lack of a better word, against what might come.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

And so obviously that doesn't work, right? So even though she's still going on her trips, she's posting highlights on Instagram, she, you know, she gets raided in March, right? So tell me about the other people. Cause what's so sad and surprising about this story is that there were actual medical doctors. Like, this woman is clearly smart hustler, and she happens to have gotten into this line of work, right? But then there are medical doctors who are also involved in getting him drugs, which just seems such a violation. Right. Of their Hippocratic oath and trying to do no harm. Like you have this person who's such a clear addict, you know. So tell us about those people.

[Sarah O'Brien]

Yeah, so. So one of them, he goes by Dr. P. And he has pleaded not guilty. And he is also expected to eventually go to trial early next year. But he was the one who was very actively involved with the assistant and also Matthew Perry and selling vials, the assistant and instructing the assistant on how to inject Matthew Perry. He was the one who injected Matthew Perry in the backseat of the vehicle in a parking lot. And then there's another doctor who has agreed to plead guilty who was sort of interacting with Dr. P in getting him ketamine. And I think what stands out for a lot of people with this whole thing is that there's a text between the two Doctors. And it said, I wonder how much this moron will pay. Which they're sort of of conspiring. Right. To get ketamine and distribute it to Matthew Perry. But they're also clearly thinking about the financial gains and not about this person's health. Right. Which is like you mentioned, the oath that they take as doctors and the fact that they're supposed to do no harm. And this is a glaring violation of that.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Right, of course. And also they're charging him $55,000 for something that has a street value of $600. So tell me now there was some news about a trial date and like, what's the status and what are people looking at in terms of time? What do you think's gonna happen?

[Sarah O'Brien]

Yeah, so we have a bit of time now for the trial. So it sounds like the earliest it will start is now March of 2025 and I think the pre trial hearing is for February. So over that time we know that federal prosecutors will sort of continue to investigate.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Right.

[Sarah O'Brien]

And wrap their hands around their arguments. And I'm sure the people that I personally really want to hear from are Dr. P and Jasine, like what are their sides of the story? Because these are people that there's a mountain of ev that we've seen now from federal prosecutors or we've seen their allegations. But what, what do Jasmine and Dr. P have to say about what happened here? Because you've got plea agreements from Matthew Perry's assistant and Eric Fleming, the, the go between drug dealer, which detail what they say happened. And they both said that they would be willing to testify as to where they got their ketamine and the source of it.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

So my last question is Matthew Perry. People have said he did exhibit a lot of addict behavior where he was very quick to anger. He was not always in the healthiest relationships. But at the same time, you interviewed a guy who knew him through the years and even told you an anecdote about Matthew, like comparing himself to Will Ferrell, like, how does this make you think about Matthew Perry and what is that anecdote?

[Sarah O'Brien]

I actually, I mean I did that story with my colleague Eric Schwartzel, who's an amazing reporter. But it seemed like Matthew Perry always was a. Not unlike a lot of celebrities maybe, but he was a victim of his own success. Like when he was seeking out help in rehab, he took a private jet home and to it so that he wouldn't be seen. He was somebody that was in people's living room for 20 years on the screen. Like people felt like, they knew him and because of the role that he played on Friends, they felt like he was a friend. Right. Like, they felt like they had this deep familiarity and friendship with him. I think he really was proud of that role. But also he had so many struggles over the years with his own self worth and ability to kick his addiction and get well and live the life that he wanted. He. He talked about wanting to be a father, but he, for lack of a better word, self sabotaged a lot of his relationships with women because he was afraid of being hurt and getting close to people. So it's really a sad story about a star that people do just loved so much.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Yeah. I mean, he even talks about how he sabotaged his relationship with Julia Roberts. Right. He didn't want her to dump him before he dumped her. I mean, really backwards thinking, but yeah, I just was very affected that your co reporter reported this anecdote of how Matthew was once in this VIP room watching a Stanley cup final game in la and Vince Vaughn was there, Will Ferrell, Zac Efron, like, all the big stars, but everybody wanted a picture with him. And when they asked, like, why is it you that everybody gravitates to? He's like, Will Ferrell is 20ft big on a screen. But I, Matthew Perry, have been the same person, the same character in their living room for decades, and they just think they know me. And I think that's really true about really all the friends characters or any big cultural touchstone like that, where you really feel like, oh, this person's my friend. Right. That was always the sort of the trick of friends. Right? Like, oh, these are my friends. Let's just check in with them, see how they're doing. And it's just so sad that he ended up dying with all these low lives and hangers on and. And no friends around him.

[Sarah O'Brien]

It is really sad. And it's also very chilling that his memoir feels like it ends on a hopeful note. Right. And it came out only a year prior to his passing and it seemed like he was really talking so openly and vulnerably about his addiction and his issues and trying to move past it and that to have something like this happen, it's really tragic.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Yeah, I agree. So thank you so much, Sarah, for coming on Infamous to talk to us about all that you've been doing on this story.

[Sarah O'Brien]

Thanks so much. It was nice to be here.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

I thought that conversation with Sarah was really enlightening. It's amazing the reporting she's been doing on this. So for you Natalie, what are the strangest parts of this story?

[Natalie Robomed]

Well, I think it's really the question of Matthew Perry's assistant and like that assistant's culpability. So Matthew Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, is facing up to 15 years in prison for illegally procuring the ketamine that led to Matthew Perry's death. And Vanity Fair did this very interesting story titled did Matthew Perry's Assistant have a Choice? Hollywood veterans aren't so sure. That basically dives into the reaction among the Hollywood assistant class to these criminal charges against Matthew Perry's personal assistant. And I think it's really hard for anybody outside of Hollywood or anybody who hasn't interacted with a star of Matthew Perry's level to understand just how much these high level talent and executives demand of their assistance. You know, this isn't somebody who is just picking up your dry cleaning or scheduling your life. These people are frequently, according to the reporting and asked to procure drugs and do other absolutely crazy things that go above and beyond the kind of normal standard work.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Right, right, right. They're like the house cleaner and also the best friend and the emotional support and go with you on runs to make sure you're keeping up your fitness. It really is an all consuming job.

[Natalie Robomed]

Absolutely. I had a friend who was once working as an assistant to, to an executive who I won't name. She actually signed her boss's divorce papers when they came through.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

What?

[Natalie Robomed]

Because, you know, the boss was having her sign her signature and stuff. She signed her boss's divorce papers. I mean, that.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Whoa.

[Sarah O'Brien]

Yeah, that's crazy.

[Natalie Robomed]

Her boss authorized her to do that. And I think what the Vanity Fair story brings up is when this person is your employer, are you actually allowed to say no? You know, allegedly, the night of Perry's death, according to a plea agreement, he told his assistant, shoot me up with a big one. And could the assistant say no to that? I don't know.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Yeah. I mean, I also think when you're shooting your boss up with drugs, like, you've really lost the plot. You're no longer part of the world that you think you're part of.

[Natalie Robomed]

One of the things that sources quoted in the Vanity Fair story bring up is the age Matthew Perry's assistant was 59. And one person quoted was like, yeah, maybe I would have administered drugs when I was in my 20s, but I would never do it. Now that I'm a grown adult, who knows better? And there was sort of a sense that perhaps this guy should have known better.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

But he had been his assistant for like 25 years. So, you know, you have this really enmeshed relationship. I mean, the other thing is that ketamine is thought to help people. It's possible the assistant thought he was actually helping, helping Matthew Perry by helping him get a drug that was relieving some of his anxiety, depression, all the things that ketamine does.

[Natalie Robomed]

Maybe, but I want to make clear that there's a very big difference between recreational ketamine use and ketamine therapy.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Well, what does that mean? I don't even know that.

[Natalie Robomed]

So ketamine therapy is a pretty new form of mental health treatment. And obviously I'm not a medical expert, but my understanding of it is, is people receive a series of ketamine transfusions and in ideal scenario, they also receive a lot of integration and therapeutic sessions with therapists and with licensed professionals. So you're not just randomly getting injected with something and then left to float on your own. You're having like, really, really intense therapy as well. And I kind of think of it as a breeding, maybe a week long kind of inpatient treatment. And Matthew Perry said that he did actually receive ketamine transfusions at a rehab he went to in Switzerland.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

But like, what do you think of my friend who's in AA who said all the people who she knows who've been sober for decades are going to get ketamine therapy and they're falling off the wagon?

[Natalie Robomed]

Yeah, I mean, look, I think that all of this is so individual and like, like, I, I personally don't think that one, one size fits all and that abstinence is the only way, you know, ketamine therapy has been recommended to me.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

And, you know, I'm somebody who, as a therapeutic.

[Natalie Robomed]

Yeah, as a therapeutic tool. And I haven't had a drink in 11 years at this point. So it's like, well, I'm not AA sober. It's actually something that I personally would consider because I think the research is still emerging. But I have a friend who did ketamine therapy who, who really told me that it saved her life.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Do you think it's gonna become a highly regulated Schedule 1 drug with cocaine and drugs like that?

[Natalie Robomed]

No, it's on the other way. Ketamine therapy is part of a group of drugs, including lsd, psilocybin, even MDMA that are being explored for therapeutic purposes and for treatment for depression, anxiety, ptsd, things like that. So I don't think it's gonna become more controlled. If anything, it's only trending towards being used, used more in medical settings and

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

also appearing in my Instagram feed, like, along with all my ads for them. Very much getting targeted. It's like ads for skincare and would you like a ketamine drip?

[Natalie Robomed]

And I mean, I think the question of these Instagram ads for. For ketamine therapy really brings up the fact that it's in some ways never been easier to get your hands on on a lot of these drugs. And I think the move towards telehealth within the pandemic really did that, as it seems like pill mills have basically gone online.

[Vanessa Grigoriadis]

Yeah. Since everything is trending online from your PTA group to your doctor, it does seem like this is the way it's going. That's it for infamous.

[Natalie Robomed]

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a rating and review and tell your friends. See you next week.

[Podcast Sponsor Announcer]

The most memorable gifts aren't found, they're made. Zazzle is a custom marketplace where you pick any product, a mug, a card, a tote, a phone case, and make it personal. A photo, a name, an inside joke. The kind of gift that actually fits the person. That's what 30 million customers have been coming back to Zazzle for over 20 years to find right now. Now, save 25% on your first order at zazzle. Com. That's zazzle.com. make it zamazing.