Matthew Perry Is Removing The “Mean Thing” About Keanu Reeves From His Memoir

Matthew Perry’s memoir, Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing is getting a late revision. On April 22, the Friends alum revealed that he would be removing an offensive line he wrote about Keanu Reeves in future editions of his memoir. During the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Perry expressed his remorse for calling out the actor in a couple of sections of his book. “I said a stupid thing. It was a mean thing to do,” he told the audience. “I pulled his name because I live on the same street,” Perry said. “I’ve apologized publicly to him. Any future versions of the book will not have his name in it.”

In his memoir, Perry wrote about actors who lost their lives very young to overdoses and then name-dropped the Matrix star. “River [Phoenix] was a beautiful man, inside and out – too beautiful for this world, it turned out,” Perry wrote of his friend, who died in 1993. “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 had told PEOPLE in October that he included Reeves’ name because he admires him. “I’m actually a big fan of Keanu,” he said previously. “I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.” With these revised editions, Perry is taking things a step further than his initial apology.

Later in the book, Perry recalls hearing about Chris Farley’s death in 1997 from a fatal overdose, again name-dropping Reeves. “His disease had progressed faster than mine had. (Plus, I had a healthy fear of the word ‘heroin,’ a fear we did not share),” he wrote. “I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us.”

Perry also noted that he has yet to speak to Reeves in person about the comment. “If I run into the guy, I’ll apologize. It was just stupid,” he said.

Perry’s book offers a candid look throughout the years, detailing many aspects of his life including his fluctuating weight loss from substance use disorders during his tenure on Friends, along with past romances with Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz.