From Julia Roberts to Barack Obama: Melanie King explores celebrity links in conspiracy theories about Matthew Perry's death

Media personality Melanie King recently claimed that Julia Roberts and Barack Obama might have been involved in Matthew Perry's death. According to Entertainment Now, Matthew Perry, best known for his role on F.R.I.E.N.D.S., was found dead in his hot tub on October 28, 2023.

On May 25, 2025, Melanie King took to her podcast to discuss conspiracy theories surrounding Perry's death. As reported by The Economic Times, Perry's cause of death was attributed to the acute effects of ketamine combined with accidental drowning in his jacuzzi.

King spoke about a conspiracy theory suggesting that Julia Roberts, who briefly dated Matthew Perry in 1995 while guest-starring on F.R.I.E.N.D.S., was somehow connected to his death. Perry died on Roberts' birthday, which King argues might not have been a coincidence.

King alleged that Julia Roberts sacrificed Perry to get her career back on track. Her latest film, Leave The World Behind, produced by Barack Obama's production company Higher Ground Productions, was released a few days before Perry's death and is filled with F.R.I.E.N.D.S. references. King said,

"What happens when you were a star and your career dies out, what do you have to do? Well, it's the same thing. There needs to be some type of sacrifice, something you give up, something that they can hold over you, in order for you to get back into Hollywood.

"Was Matthew Perry some type of sacrifice? Because it just doesn't make sense, even fitting F.R.I.E.N.D.S. into this movie makes absolutely no sense...and how Julia Roberts' birthday is the same day he died. Now, some may call this a coincidence, some may call it a conspiracy theory, which it is for now, but these are still questions we're allowed to ask."

King also briefly mentioned the rumors regarding an alleged affair between Barack Obama and Jennifer Aniston but did not delve any further into it.

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Details about Matthew Perry's death explored

As reported by NDTV, Matthew Perry, best known for his portrayal of Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S., was found unresponsive in the jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 54.

While his death was initially reported as a drowning, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later determined that it was caused by the “acute effects of ketamine,” with other contributing factors including drowning, coronary artery disease, and recent methamphetamine and amphetamine use, as well as the presence of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid addiction.

Perry had spent his last morning playing pickleball before returning home, where his assistant later discovered him unconscious in the pool. Despite immediate medical attention, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Perry was believed to be receiving treatment for depression and anxiety with ketamine infusion therapy; however, the autopsy noted that the ketamine in his system at the time of his death did not appear to have stemmed from his most recent treatment session, since it metabolizes too rapidly. This raised concerns about potential unauthorized use.

New details about Perry's final days recently emerged in a documentary, Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, released in February 2025. According to the documentary, Perry was administered 27 ketamine injections in the last three days of his life. Five people—two doctors, his live-in assistant, and an alleged drug dealer known as the "Ketamine Queen"—were later charged in connection with his death.

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As per Goodreads, Matthew Perry's memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, was published on November 1, 2022.