‘I Just Chose A Random Name’: Matthew Perry Backtracks On Bitter Keanu Reeves Remarks Following Backlash

Actor Matthew Perry is attempting to walk back comments he made about Keanu Reeves in his upcoming memoir following major internet backlash, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Perry has made an apology for the insensitive words he penned in his new memoir, Friends, Lovers and The Big Terrible Thing, recalling finding out about the tragic and sudden deaths of Reeves’ longtime best friends, River Phoenix, and Chris Farley.

“Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?,” Perry wrote in his book.

Now, Perry claims there was no ill-intent when writing the statements in his book that discusses his longtime battle with substance abuse and his close calls with death because of them.

“I’m actually a big fan of Keanu,” Perry told Deadline in a statement following backlash for the comments.

“I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead,” Perry claimed in his statement.

While Perry’s claim on choosing a name at random could certainly be true, the internet was quick to call out Perry’s reference to Reeves in the memoir more than once.

When recalling the death of Phoenix, who passed from a drug overdose at just 23, Perry described the young actor as, “a beautiful man, inside and out and too beautiful for this world, it turned out.”

The sentence was heartfelt at first but took a turn when the actor added, “It always seems to be the talented guys who go down.”

Perry recalled sobbing after finding out that the young actor, who he met while filming his first movie, A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon in 1988, died from an overdose outside of the Viper Room in Hollywood.

“I heard the screaming from my apartment; went back to bed; woke up to the news,” Perry wrote on discovering his friend's tragic death.

Later in the book, Perry recalled being on the set of Friends when finding out about the death of comedian Chris Farley.

In 1999, Reeves’ daughter, whom he shared with then-girlfriend Jennifer Syme, was delivered stillborn eight months into Syme’s pregnancy.

Following the death of their daughter, Reeves and Syme’s relationship hit a rough spot. Two years later, another tragedy struck Reeves.

In 2001, after catching a ride home from a party hosted by Marilyn Manson, Syme reportedly got into her Jeep and drove back to the party. In the process, Syme crashed her Jeep into parked cars and was ejected from her vehicle. Syme died instantly.

Reeves spoke on the tragedy he endured and how he channeled his own experience in his role as John Wick, saying that he found it, “Very, very difficult to cope with her death.”

“I thought it was one of the foundations of the role. I love his grief,” Reeves said on his character, “I relate to that, and I don’t think you ever work through it.”

“Grief and loss don’t ever go away,” Reeves added.