Matthew Perry Pledges to Remove Controversial Keanu Reeves Comments From Future Memoir Edition

Posted by Reinaldo Massengill on Friday, August 9, 2024

Matthew Perry has vowed to remove his controversial remarks about Keanu Reeves from future editions of his memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.” The “Friends” actor apologized after receiving backlash for writing about Reeves in his book, questioning why the actor “still walks among us” when “talented” actors and “original thinkers” like River Phoenix and Chris Farley had passed.

Now, Perry is taking action by removing the references to Reeves. At the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Saturday, Perry revealed that all future editions of “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” would omit Reeves’ name.

Related Stories

The Emmys award holding an eyeball VIP+

Emmys Rebound Bolsters 2024 Awards Show Ratings

Alan Cumming and the Traitors producers

The Emmy Revolution: History-Making Wins and Shakeups Set the Stage for a Madcap 2025 Race

“I said a stupid thing. It was a mean thing to do,” Perry said at the festival. “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.” 

Popular on Variety

Perry, too, revealed that while he hadn’t personally apologized to Reeves, but that he plans to do so. “If I run into the guy, I’ll apologize. It was just stupid,” said Perry. 

While the “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” passages referencing Reeves were written as an attempt to pay homage to the likes of Phoenix and Farley, the execution was met with fervent criticism. “The list of geniuses who were ahead of their time is too long to detail here — suffice to say, near the top of any such list should be my costar in ‘A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon,’ River Phoenix,” Perry writes.

Perry continues later on, writing, “River was a beautiful man, inside and out — too beautiful for this world, it turned out. It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us? River was a better actor than me; I was funnier. But I certainly held my own in our scenes — no small feat, when I look back decades later.”

Perry was quick to issue an apology for the passage back in October: “I’m actually a big fan of Keanu. I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”

Read More About:

Jump to Comments

More from Variety

Most Popular

Must Read

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXN%2Fjq2taKaVrMBwucCtq6Gdp2K9pr7RsmSknZGjwm6%2BxJ6tnqtdp7Kuu9Wem2aeoqS6brnEpqaiql2YvK%2FA0aitnqqjrnpyfpJubHJpaGiEcA%3D%3D

CATALOG
    FEATURED TAGS