Matthew Perry’s memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing comes out next week. The book is a raw look at Matthew’s drug and alcohol addiction and his struggle to get sober. Last week, we learned that the GI perforation that almost killed him was caused by ingesting too many Oxycontin. Matthew also admitted to going to rehab about 15 times. In his interview with The New York Times, he revealed that those rehab stays and all his other efforts to get sober have cost him something to the tune of $9M.

Matthew Perry says in a recent interview with The New York Times that he spent a literal fortune to get sober.

The Friends alum, 53, noted the estimated seven-figure sum he’s shelled out on his path to sobriety in the Sunday interview while promoting the upcoming release of his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.

“I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” Perry said. The actor also revealed that he recently celebrated 18 months of sobriety, which would indicate he was newly sober for the popular Friends reunion special, which aired in May 2021.

Perry previously opened up to PEOPLE about the new book and his decades-spanning journey to getting off drugs and alcohol, explaining that “everything starts with sobriety.”

“Because if you don’t have sobriety, you’re going to lose everything that you put in front of it, so my sobriety is right up there,” Perry said. “I’m an extremely grateful guy. I’m grateful to be alive, that’s for sure. And that gives me the possibility to do anything.”

[From People]

Not to over-simplify it but that’s a lot of money. Matthew’s vague about the amount, “I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” but I’ll bet his manager or accountant has given him an idea of what his addiction cost him. A stay at Passages runs between $80,000 – $111,000, so 15 stays there would be close to $2M. Maybe he went out of state or overseas for anonymity. Plus, therapy, legal and medical bills, I’m sure he could get to $9M pretty quickly. It breaks my heart to think of what happens to all the addicts who don’t have Friends money to see it through to get fully sober like Matthew did. But I’m glad Matthew did see it through because lord knows even those with money don’t make it either. And I applaud him for being so honest about all of this. I don’t think it was easy for him to so and he’ll probably receive criticism, but I’m sure he’ll help someone out there as well. Since that’s his goal, it’ll be worth it, I imagine.

Matthew said that in addition to money, he relied heavily on his both lower and capital “f” Friends. He said the famously tight-knit cast rallied around him, propping him up when he needed it. And while they were patient, his issues didn’t go unnoticed. When Matthew talked to Diane Sawyer, he said that Jennifer Aniston was the first Friend to confront him on his problems. But he said that Jennifer was the one who reached out to him the most during his recovery and that’s he’s, “really grateful to her for that.”

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