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If you were a bit taken aback and put off by actor Matthew Perry's weird beef with Keanu Reeves in the recently released excerpts from his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing you're not the only one.
Reeves doesn't get it either.
Before its release last week, Perry shared a few passages including a lament Reeves "still walks among us" while his supposedly more talented contemporaries like River Phoenix died young in the 1990s.
It was weird to essentially wish one star was dead instead of another—especially when the stars in question were best friends—but to say so about a star as unanimously adored as Reeves was... hoo boy.
Wouldn't want to be Perry's publicist, that's for sure.
Reeves was reportedly just as mystified by the move as the rest of us, according to a source close to him who spoke to Us Weekly.
\u201cExclusive: How did Keanu Reeves really feel about Matthew Perry\u2019s unexpected memoir diss? https://t.co/o5r9EOXmPL\u201d— Us Weekly (@Us Weekly) 1667563899
Reeves has stayed silent on the matter, remaining his affable, universally beloved self.
But the source close to him told Us Weekly he was shocked and confused by Perry's comments.
“Keanu thought the comments came out of left field. It’s kind of backfired on Matthew anyway, which is why he had to apologize.”
It definitely did backfire on Perry, there's no doubt about that.
A backlash immediately erupted upon the release of the excerpts, in which Perry laments multiple times that "Keanu Reeves walks among us" while his best friend actor River Phoenix and contemporaries like comedian Chris Farley, a close friend and collaborator of Perry's, both died young of drug overdoses in the 1990s.
Perry also mentioned actor Heath Ledger's death in 2008 as another example of how unfair it is that "Keanu Reeves walks among us," and slyly insulted Reeves' talent, contrasting him with "really talented guys" and "original thinkers" like Phoenix, Farley and Ledger.
Perry's apology only made things worse after he said he chose Reeves' name at "random" and that he "should have used my own name instead.”
On Twitter, people were definitely not surprised Reeves had a bit of a "WTF‽‽" response to the whole thing.
\u201cIDK why Matthew Perry mentions Keanu Reeves in his book unless he is trying to sell more books by becoming suddenly relevant. All I know of Keanu is that he exhibits humility, kindness and generosity. I won't buy that book, but I will forever watch Keanu's films.\u201d— Joni LaCentra (@Joni LaCentra) 1667786760
\u201cBe more like Keanu and less like Perry.\u201d— Stone (@Stone) 1667639013
\u201c@screenrant It still makes no sense to me- everyone seems to love Keanu Reeves, he never bothers anyone\n\nMatthew Perry on other hand turned himself into a pathetic cartoon character meme \n\nHow could a burned out former star benefit from taking a shot at an industry made man? \n\nDenzel next?\u201d— Screen Rant (@Screen Rant) 1667594881
\u201c@PageSix Lifelong success insulted by a dumpster fire.\u201d— Page Six (@Page Six) 1667638867
\u201c@KaiseratCB Leave Keanu alone!!!!.\u201d— Kaiser@Celebitchy (@Kaiser@Celebitchy) 1667836735
\u201c@TheTorontoSun #TeamKeanu\u201d— Toronto Sun (@Toronto Sun) 1667607014
\u201cI still have no idea why Mathew Perry attacked Keanu Reeves out of no where lmao\u201d— Greggory (@Greggory) 1667522635
\u201cWhen Keanu Reeves found out Matthew Perry hated him....\u201d— Grant Culp (@Grant Culp) 1667871401
Reeves isn't the only star Perry was less than gracious about in his book. He also revealed he had a romantic encounter with actor Valerie Bertinelli while she was still married, going into great detail about the "long, elaborate make-out session" they shared.