How Matthew Perry's drug dealer is connected to Scarlett Johansson
Erik Fleming, one of the five individuals arrested in connection with the drug overdose death of F.R.I.E.N.D.S actor Matthew Perry, was previously a filmmaker. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fleming, who allegedly acted as a middleman in the ketamine scheme that resulted in Perry's untimely death in October last year, had directed Scarlett Johansson in a 1999 movie. Perry, renowned for playing Chandler Bing, died from a ketamine overdose on October 28 last year.
Fleming's career in the film industry
To note, Fleming directed the 1999 children's fantasy comedy My Brother the Pig, which starred Johansson and Eva Mendes. He also directed the road movie Tyrone in the same year, featuring Coolio and Kevin Connolly. Fleming was a producer for the first season of the reality show The Surreal Life (2003), and later started an unsuccessful production company called Rich Hippie with Sydney Holland.
Update on Perry's case
Five people, including Perry's personal assistant and two doctors, have been charged in relation to the actor's death. Prosecutors described this group as a "broad underground criminal network" dedicated to supplying Perry with the potent surgical anesthetic that caused his death. US Attorney Martin Estrada stated that the doctors exploited Perry's history of addiction in his final months to provide him with dangerous amounts of ketamine.
Perry's regular ketamine treatments for depression
Authorities revealed that Perry had been receiving regular ketamine infusion treatments for depression from his regular doctors, who were not among those charged. However, when these doctors refused to give him more of the drug, Perry allegedly turned to others. Prosecutors claimed that on the day of his death, Perry received several ketamine injections from his live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa—who worked with him for a long time.
