Matthew Perry’s belongings to be auctioned as Friends memorabilia and original Banksy up for sale
The sale of valuables from Perry’s estate will raise money for the charitable foundation established in the actor’s name
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Signed Friends scripts, a custom Batman ping-pong table and a replica of the peephole on Monica and Rachel’s apartment are among several valuables from the estate of Matthew Perry up for sale at a charity auction.
The auction, which will be held on 5 June by Heritage Auctions, will benefit the Matthew Perry Foundation, which was set up after the actor’s death to destigmatise addiction and aid in recovery from substance abuse.
Perry struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for much of his life and was found dead in a hot tub at his Hollywood home in 2023, aged 54. The medical examiner determined that the acute effects of the anaesthetic ketamine were the primary cause.
“Matthew believed addiction should be met with compassion and science, not stigma and silence,” said the foundation’s chief executive, Lisa Kasteler Calio. “This auction fuels the foundation’s work to expand access to evidence-based care and confront stigma. It is one more way we ensure that no one has to fight this disease alone.”
Items in the auction include the script for the Friends pilot – when the hugely influential sitcom had the working title Six of One – signed by Perry and his co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer. The script’s starting price was $500 (A$700, £370) and was donated by Warner Bros, which produced the show.
Also in the auction is a collection of 26 of Perry’s Friends scripts from key episodes, including The One With Ross’s Tan, The One Where Joey Speaks French and the two-part series finale. The bundle has a starting price of $1,000.
Perry’s Screen Actors Guild award, which he won for best performance by an ensemble in a comedy series in 1995, is available to buy, as is his personal replica of the yellow peephole frame that hung on the door to Monica and Rachel’s apartment.
Works in Perry’s art collection, including an original Banksy expected to sell for more than $800,000, are also up for sale, as is his Batman watch, a custom Batman ping-pong table (missing the net) and framed handwritten lyrics by Australian rock group Little River Band.
The auction site opened Tuesday. The items will be on display in Beverly Hills from 18-29 May before the auction on 5 June, which will be held at Heritage Auctions’ Dallas showroom and online.
Net proceeds will go to initiatives supported by the Matthew Perry Foundation.
Perry played Chandler Bing from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s sitcom Friends, which made him one of the biggest television stars of his generation.
The success of Friends, and the support of his castmates, helped him cope with his addiction, Perry wrote in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. “There was no way I could have been a journeyman actor. I wouldn’t have stayed sober for that; it was not worth not doing heroin for that … When you’re earning $1m a week, you can’t afford to have the 17th drink,” he wrote.
Perry had taken ketamine legally to treat depression but began seeking it from multiple sources after his doctor refused to give him the drug in the amounts he wanted.
Five people have pleaded guilty to charges relating to Perry’s death. Three have been sentenced: two doctors, Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez; and “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha, who last month was sentenced to 15-years in prison for her role in Perry’s death.
The actor’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who injected him with the drug before his death, and Erik Fleming, who bought the ketamine from Sangha and supplied it to Iwamasa for Perry, have also pleaded guilty. Both men await sentencing, Fleming in May and Iwamasa in June.
• In the US, call or text SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 988. In the UK, Taking Action on Addiction provides links to different support services. In Australia, the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline is at 1800 250 015; families and friends can seek help at Family Drug Support Australia at 1300 368 186

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