The actor addressed the decision to remove the controversial remarks during an appearance at the LA Times Festival of Books.
Matthew Perry has decided to make an import change to future editions of his tell-all memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. The actor says he's nixing the insulting off-handed remarks he made dissing Keanu Reeves.
Perry made an appearance on Saturday at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, where he addressed the seemingly random insults against Reeves in his memoir, and said that reprintings and future editions won't include the remarks.
"I said a stupid thing. It was a mean thing to do," Perry admitted during a panel discussion at USC’s Bovard Auditorium, per the LA Times. "I pulled his name because I live on the same street."
In his memoir, Perry made some flippant remarks about Reeves, in the context of his own friendship with the late River Phoenix. Perry 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?" He made another similar comment when talking about the death of Chris Farley from a drug overdose.
"I’ve apologized publicly to him. Any future versions of the book will not have his name in it," Perry said on Saturday, adding that he hasn't had a chance to apologize in person, but, "If I run into the guy, I’ll apologize. It was just stupid."
The controversial remarks about Reeves first drew heat when revealed ahead of the book's release, and Perry responded to fan outrage in a statement to People at the time.
"I'm actually a big fan of Keanu," Perry said in a mea culpa. "I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead."
For more on Perry's revealing and candid memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, check out the video below.
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