ITALY PERSPECTIVE

Rome, May 28, 2026. For Italian press, the Matthew Perry case enters its conclusive judicial phase with the sentencing of Kenneth Iwamasa, the personal assistant who admitted to having personally injected the ketamine into the American actor in the last hours of his life. The sentence, exceeding three and a half years of detention, comes to sanction a confession of rare gravity: that of a trusted man who administered the substance that caused the fatal overdose on October 28, 2023.

Adnkronos, a reference agency for international news in Italy, relayed the sentencing, highlighting the direct nature of Iwamasa's responsibility. The article retains the expression "lethal dose" to qualify the injection, insisting on the causal link established by American justice between the assistant's act and the death of the Friends star.

What strikes in the Italian reading of this case is less the tragic fate of a celebrity than the institutionalized mechanism of dependence it reveals. Perry was not alone in facing his addiction: he was surrounded by a network of people - assistants, doctors, suppliers - some of whom facilitated, or actively fed, his ketamine consumption. American justice has already pronounced several sentences in this case, targeting these intermediaries whom the actor paid and in whom he placed absolute trust.

Iwamasa, by pleading guilty, spared the family and the public a long and grueling trial. His sentence of three and a half years reflects the gravity recognized by the facts, even if attenuating circumstances - including his cooperation with investigators - likely weighed in the court's decision.

For the Italian public, Matthew Perry remains above all Chandler Bing, the comedic and endearing character of the Friends series, broadcast for years on national channels and still widely watched on streaming. The actor's death at 54 had sparked a sincere emotion in Italy in the fall of 2023. The sentencing of his assistant closes a judicial wound while raising a question that goes beyond the American case: up to what point can an employee's loyalty turn into complicity?