A friend says Matthew Perry was “happy and energetic” the day before he died

CNN
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The day before his death, Matthew Perry was photographed having a meal with a friend who is now talking about them getting together.

Athena Crosby has come out publicly to confirm that she was the woman who was seen having lunch with Perry at the Bel-Air Hotel the day before his death at the age of 54.

Crosby She took to social media Sharing a statement, she wrote via her Instagram Stories on Wednesday, “I wasn’t going to talk about this but what I will say is that I had the privilege of knowing Matthew personally.”

“I am so devastated by his death but felt it was bad to talk about it publicly as the concern should not be on me but on him and his legacy, he was a very private person and I always respected that in our friendship,” she wrote alongside a black-and-white photo of Perry. “But we were really friends and I was one of the last people to talk to him and see him before he died.”

In another post with a photo of herself eating lunch as seen on TMZ, Crosby confirmed that she did not intend to talk about Perry, but has done so since she has been identified. She also asked people not to speculate about his death and shared what she said was his state of mind during their meeting.

“I want to stress that Matthew was in very good spirits and spoke to me enthusiastically about things that had happened in his life,” Crosby wrote. “He was very happy and energetic.”

“Know that this man was on his way back and truly deserves more time on this earth,” Crosby added. “Our entertainment industry has truly lost a legend. Cut.”

Also on Her Instagram storiesCrosby posted a series of videos and said she really wanted to “shift the conversation” toward his grieving friends and family members.

Crosby, 25, He told TMZ She was not romantically involved with Perry, whom she said she met through a mutual friend a few months ago.

she also She spoke to “Entertainment Tonight” He said Perry was “doing a great job” and “telling jokes all the time” while they were together. Crosby said the actor discussed with her who he wanted to play him in a biopic he was planning based on his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir.”

“He said he wanted to make a movie about his life,” she told ET. “He has worked with Zac Efron in the past on a film, and he said he wanted Zac Efron to play him as a younger version.” [of himself] And that he would soon be asked to do so. He was just looking forward to sharing more about his story and his addiction recovery, and really championing this cause to help more people, so he was very optimistic and happy with everything he wanted to do.

Perry and Efron starred together in the 2009 comedy 17 Again in which Efron played the younger version of Perry’s character.

CNN has reached out to representatives for both Crosby and Efron for comment.