Matthew Perry apologies for Keanu Reeves remark, says he’s ‘actually a big fan of Keanu’

Matthew Perry is apologised for passages in his forthcoming book Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing that reference Keanu Reeves, per PEOPLE.

In the several excerpts of the book, which were released by Variety and The New York Post, Perry mentioned harbouring a weird bitterness towards Keanu Reeves.

In one section, Perry, 53, spoke about his friendship with the late actor River Phoenix and wrote, “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?”

Perry mentioned Reeves once more when he talks about the death of comedian Chris Farley. “His disease had progressed faster than mine had. (Plus, I had a healthy fear of the word ‘heroin,’ a fear we did not share),” Perry writes. “I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us.”

The Friends alum now says that he misspoke.

“I’m actually a big fan of Keanu. I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologise. I should have used my own name instead,” said Perry in a statement to PEOPLE.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Perry’s book offers no further clarification on why Reeves’ name was mentioned. Reeves, who does not appear to share any film or TV credits with Perry, co-starred with Phoenix in 1991’s My Own Private Idaho. Since Phoenix’s passing, Reeves has been open about their close friendship and the grief that the loss has caused him.”