The One Where Matthew Perry Meets Peter Hitchens . . . Friends star and Mail writer go head-to-head on Newsnight in heated row over drugs

  • Friends star argued in favour of specialist courts for drugs addicts
  • Mail on Sunday writer Peter Hitchens argued law is failing, by being 'nice'
  • Newsnight editor says both men were escorted out via different exits
  • At one point the actor referred to Mr Hitchens as 'Santa'
  • Mr Hitchens hit back: 'This is a very serious subject and you treat it with immense levity'
  • At height of troubles Perry drank bottle of vodka per night and 30 tablets
  • He told Hitchens: 'I'm a drug addict and if I have a drink I can't stop,' he said, adding: '(you say) I'm choosing to do that'
  • Hitchens responded: 'There is a fashion for dismissing the ability of people to take control over their own lives and make excuses for them'.

By Martin Robinson

PUBLISHED: 20:43 EST, 16 December 2013 | UPDATED: 20:38 EST, 17 December 2013

Friends star Matthew Perry was involved in a heated TV debate last night in which he claimed that questioning drug addiction is 'as ludicrous as saying Peter Pan is real'.

The American actor, who has battled drink and drug abuse, appeared on BBC's Newsnight to argue in favour of specialist courts where former addicts sit as lay magistrates dealing with abuse-related crimes.

Fighting the opposite corner, Mail on Sunday journalist and anti-drug campaigner Peter Hitchens railed against the idea and what he described as the 'fantasy of addiction'.

After the clash, Newsnight editor Ian Katz tweeted that he had dispatched a producer to take Perry and Mr Hitchens out of the building through different exits.

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Friends star Matthew Perry, who has battled drink and drug abuse, appeared on BBC's Newsnight to argue in favour of specialist courts where former addicts sit as lay magistrates

Campaigner: Friends star Matthew Perry, who has battled drink and drug abuse, appeared on BBC's Newsnight to argue in favour of specialist courts where former addicts sit as lay magistrates

Anti-drugs campaigner and Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens countered that more people take illegal substances since possession was effectively made legal

Counter-argument: Anti-drugs campaigner and Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens countered that more people take illegal substances since possession was effectively made legal

Aftermath: Newsnight editor Ian Katz said he had sent a producer to escort the two guests out via separate exits after their row

Aftermath: Newsnight editor Ian Katz said he had sent a producer to escort the two guests out via separate exits after their row

'You are making a point that is as ludicrous as saying Peter Pan is real,' Perry, who reached fame as sitcom character Chandler Bing, retorted.

At one point he referred to the Mail on Sunday columnist as 'Santa' and told him to 'read something other than your book' in reference to Mr Hitchens' essay The War We Never Fought: The British Establishment's Surrender To Drugs.

 

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Mr Hitchens, who has previously debated drugs policy with former heroin addict and comedian Russell Brand, countered that more people take illegal substances since possession was effectively made legal.

'This is a very serious subject and you treat it with immense levity,' he told Perry.

'The policy which you so smugly and loftily advocate, this policy has led to disaster in Western countries for decades.'

 

Matthew Perry appeared alongside former social worker Baroness Meacher and opposite Peter Hitchens in the debate hosted by Jeremy Paxman

Heated debate: Matthew Perry appeared alongside former social worker Baroness Meacher and opposite Peter Hitchens in the debate hosted by Jeremy Paxman

'The policy which you so smugly and loftily advocate, this policy has led to disaster in Western countries for decades.'

Perry spoke openly about his troubles with addiction.

'I'm a drug addict and if I have a drink I can't stop,' he said, adding: '(you say) I'm choosing to do that.

'It's an obsession of the mind and an allergy of the body. For example, if I think about alcohol I cannot stop. It's about controlling that'.

Peter Hitchens responded: 'People have problems with drugs and drink. People like taking them and don't want to stop. It doesn't mean they have a disease.

'There is an immense fashion at the moment for dismissing the ability of people to take control over their own lives and to make excuses for them.

'For more than 50 years we have treated alleged addiction as not a crime, we have treated it as a disease, and now we have many more drug users than we did then'.

Matthew Perry (right) has battled drink and drug addiction since starring in hit U.S. comedy Friends

Behind the scenes: Matthew Perry (right) has battled drink and drug addiction since starring in hit U.S. comedy Friends (pictured)

Troubled: Matthew Perry has long struggled with addiction to alcohol and drugs
after leaving rehab he put on weight

Troubled: Matthew Perry has long struggled with addiction to alcohol and drugs, which at its worst was a bottle of vodka a night with 30 or so tablets

A think tank has been arguing that drug addicts should become magistrates in special drugs courts.

The idea, from the Policy Exchange, will help people quit, they say,

Mr Perry has flown into the UK from America to give it his backing.

Before he appeared on Newsnight he opened the Policy Exchange talk on Monday evening with ‘I’m Matthew and I’m an alcoholic.’

The actor last night admitted his struggles with alcohol started when he was just 13 years old after he consumed a bottle of wine at a friends party.

During his high profile career Mr Perry told how he struggled with alcoholism, admitting he would drink a bottle of vodka a night in his home.

Admission: Matthew Perry spoke at the Policy Exchange last night and started his speech with 'I'm Matthew and I'm an alcoholic'

Admission: Matthew Perry spoke at the Policy Exchange last night and started his speech with 'I'm Matthew and I'm an alcoholic'

Mr Perry backing drugs courts said: ‘In America this system is the one thing republicans and democrats agree on. Because it rehabilitates and it also saves money.

‘We have come here today to show Downing Street our programme, a programme which will save lives and money. And I don’t know many politicians who would remain popular if they ignored a system which would save lives and save money.’

Perry has seen his career flounder after becoming one of the world's biggest stars in Friends.

He told ABC News in May that he became an expert at hiding his troubles from co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow.

He went to a 28-day program in 1997 for Vicodin addiction and saw his weight fluctuate wildly over the next few years - once dropping as low as 145 pounds.

Perry again entered rehab in February 2001 to treat an addiction to the opioids Vicodin and methadone, as well as amphetamines and alcohol.

His problems began when he checked into a Minnesota clinic after he became addicted to the painkiller Vicodin, following a jet-ski accident.

At his lowest ebb, he was drinking two pints of vodka a day and swallowing up to 30 tablets. At the same time, he was admitted to hospital with agonising pancreatitis - an inflammation often caused by drink and drugs abuse.

At the time he also crashed his car into the porch of a house.

Close: Matthew Perry has admitted he became an expert at hiding his troubles from co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow

Close: Matthew Perry has admitted he became an expert at hiding his troubles from co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow

Incident: At one of his lowest point Matthew Perry damaged his brand new Porsche and caused £10,000 worth of damage to a Hollywood mansion after a crash

Incident: At one of his lowest point Matthew Perry damaged his brand new Porsche and caused £10,000 worth of damage to a Hollywood mansion after a crash

During his rehabilitation he told fellow addicts at a counselling session that his wages of £550,000 a week were responsible for his addiction to tranquillisers, according to a U.S. magazine.

Close: Matthew Perry said his father John Bennett Perry, left, had warned him to not to be a 'big shot' after his Friends success, but he admitted he 'forgot all about it' when Friends became a worldwide hit

Close: Matthew Perry said his father John Bennett Perry, left, had warned him to not to be a 'big shot' after his Friends success, but he admitted he 'forgot all about it' when Friends became a worldwide hit

'I could go out and do whatever I wanted, buy anything I wanted and overkill took over. I wanted it all - and I took it all,' he said.

'My dad advised me years ago that if I became successful not to become a big-shot . . . but I forgot all about his warning after Friends took off.

'I became a spoiled Hollywood party boy and to make matters worse I started to hate myself. That's when I looked for an artificial high and got into trouble.'

Following the final series of the sitcom in 2004, which followed the messy private lives of a group of six New Yorkers, Canadian Perry has suffered a slump.

In 2006, he landed the lead role as a TV writer in the much-vaunted Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. But it was dropped by U.S. network NBC after one series because of poor ratings and mixed reviews.

Perry's attempts at a film career have been equally disappointing. He starred as a chronically depressed film writer in the quickly forgotten movie Numb, which was mauled by critics and flopped at the box office.

He has admitted to suffering from depression, and has said he locked himself away for days on end in his Hollywood Hills home to escape the pressure of fame. He has also fought a long battle with addictions to drink and prescription drugs.

He has since turned his life around and has turned his former beachfront Malibu, California home to a sober living home for men transitioning back to the real world.

Comments (754)

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Just stop taking drugs and booze. Simples!!!

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I'll take a world populated by the likes of Peter Hitchens over the Matthew Perrys anyday.

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It is only the person concerned with drugs or alcohol abuse that can put things right long - term. That does not say that a spell in prison is not a good initial motivator for SOME addicts ---but not all !

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peter hitchens is right drugs are capable of changing a person completly i am with him on this subject all the way

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peter hitchens speaks common sense shame the country does not like the t6ruth

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Addiction is not about the individual. We exist in social systems. Our though patterns are influenced by our life experiences. Addiction can be made worse by well meaning people who either maintain the problems or enable the person to be addicted. Yes the individual has a choice but it is the precious few that can remove certain people from their lives and find the right environment to heal in. Especially when you are physically and mentally unwell and extremely vulnerable.

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Sounds like someone is mad at his brother, or at least basing his opinions on how his brother related with alcohol. By all accounts his Christopher definitely chose to drink a lot, and while he may or may not have been an alcoholic, I am sure his substance use in that regard contributed to behaviour that Peter found irritating over the years, as is often the case between siblings.

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I am 100% with Matthew Perry on this. Peter Hitchens doesn't have a medical degree, nor has he suffered from addiction. He is just a journalist with some very conservative views, among them that addiction is merely a lack of willpower, and nothing else and prison is the only way to treat those who offend due to addiction. He completely ignored, dismissed and brushed off the empirical evidence that was literally sitting right in front of him , in the form of Matthew Perry. He basically said the Mr Perry didn't know what he was talking about. I never thought much of Mr Hitchens, and now i think even less.

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BLINKERED

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A few points to raise here. Firstly, Mr.Perry was/is addicted to LEGAL drugs and alcohol, not illegal highs. These prescribed or much promoted drugs, as alcohol are a far bigger issue than "illegal" drugs I believe.. I'm on patches at the moment trying to get off my addiction to tobacco which was shamelessly promoted to me as a lifestyle choice in my youth. Having taken most illegal drugs without becoming addicted I can assure you that getting off tobacco is much harder. Then there is the matter of choice and free will. We all make decisions in life that put us on certain paths. Matthew Perry is now a force for positive education as he has opened up his own home to recovering addicts, so who can say his life path was wrong? He survived and is now putting his experiences to good use, whilst Mr Hitchens just seems to be naive and profiting from his sanctimonious tome. Finally, education, decriminalisation or legalisation is obviously the key as the "war on drugs" is patently unwinnable.

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Hitchens came across, as usual, as a belligerent moron, wheeled out to spout crass, ill-informed rhetoric of which he has no clue, understanding or experience. A vile little man who believes himself to just about better and more correct about everything than pretty much all other people on the planet.

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