Doctor pleads guilty to selling Matthew Perry ketamine in the weeks before the actor’s death

LOS ANGELES: A doctor pleaded guilty Wednesday to giving Matthew Perry ketamine in the month leading up to the “Friends” star’s overdose death.

Dr. Salvador Plasencia became the fourth of the five people charged in connection with Perry’s death to plead guilty. He stood next to his lawyer and admitted guilt to four counts to Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett in federal court in Los Angeles.

Plasencia, 43, was to have gone on trial in August until the doctor agreed last month to plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine, according to the signed document filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

He spoke only to answer the judge’s questions. When asked if his lawyers had considered all the possibilities of pleas and sentencing in the case, Plasencia replied, “They’ve considered everything.”

He had previously pleaded not guilty, but in exchange for the guilty pleas prosecutors have agreed to drop three additional counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of falsifying records.

Prosecutors outlined the charges in court before the plea, and said, as Plasencia’s lawyers have emphasized, that he did not sell Perry the dose that killed the actor.

They described, and Plasencia admitted, that Perry froze up and his blood pressure spiked when the doctor gave him one injection, but Plasencia still left more ketamine for Perry’s assistant to inject.

In court, Perry was referred to only as “victim MP.”

The charges can carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and there is no guarantee Plasencia will get less, but he’s likely to. He has been free on bond since shortly after his arrest in August, and will be allowed to remain free until his Dec. 3 sentencing.

Plasencia left the courthouse with his lawyers without speaking to reporters gathered outside.

The only remaining defendant who has not reached an agreement with the US Attorney’s Office is Jasveen Sangha, who prosecutors allege is a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen” and sold Perry the lethal dose. Her trial is scheduled to begin next month. She has pleaded not guilty.

According to prosecutors and co-defendants who reached their own deals, Plasencia illegally supplied Perry with a large amount of ketamine starting about a month before his death on Oct. 28, 2023.

According to a co-defendant, Plasencia in a text message called the actor a “moron” who could be exploited for money.

Perry’s personal assistant, his friend, and another doctor all agreed to plead guilty last year in exchange for their cooperation as the government sought to make their case against larger targets, Plasencia and Sangha. None have been sentenced yet.

Perry was found dead by the assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa. The medical examiner ruled that ketamine, typically used as a surgical anesthetic, was the primary cause of death.

The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression, which has become increasingly common. Perry, 54, began seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him.

Plasencia admitted in his plea agreement that another patient connected him with Perry, and that starting about a month before Perry’s death, he illegally supplied the actor with 20 vials of ketamine totaling 100 mg of the drug, along with ketamine lozenges and syringes.

He admitted to enlisting another doctor, Mark Chavez, to supply the drug for him, according to the court filings.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez, according to Chavez’s plea agreement.

After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500, Plasencia allegedly asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry’s “go-to,” prosecutors said.

Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on “Friends,” when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit.

Recognise Palestine now to ‘kickstart’ UK’s role in peace process – senior Labour MP

Dame Emily Thornberry is chair of the powerful Foreign Affairs Select Committee, and was in Sir Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet before last year’s election – although was snubbed from being given a full-time role.

Her committee is today calling for the UK to recognise Palestine as a state – much like French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking to Sky News this morning, Thornberry says the UK has “looked away” from the situation in the Middle East and needs to be “back in the room”.

She calls on the government to take more action against settlers in the West Bank.

On the recognition of the Palestinian state, Thornberry says everyone on the committee bar the Conservatives agreed that it should be recognised immediately.

“The majority [of the committee] believe that we should be recognising now, as a kind of kickstart of a clear commitment from Britain, that we want to be involved in finding a long term peace,” she says.

Recognise Palestine now to ‘kickstart’ UK’s role in peace process – senior Labour MP

Dame Emily Thornberry is chair of the powerful Foreign Affairs Select Committee, and was in Sir Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet before last year’s election – although was snubbed from being given a full-time role.

Her committee is today calling for the UK to recognise Palestine as a state – much like French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking to Sky News this morning, Thornberry says the UK has “looked away” from the situation in the Middle East and needs to be “back in the room”.

She calls on the government to take more action against settlers in the West Bank.

On the recognition of the Palestinian state, Thornberry says everyone on the committee bar the Conservatives agreed that it should be recognised immediately.

“The majority [of the committee] believe that we should be recognising now, as a kind of kickstart of a clear commitment from Britain, that we want to be involved in finding a long term peace,” she says.

The Franco-Israeli relationship was once a subject of obsessive scrutiny by the CIA as US intelligence scrambled to uncover proof that Tel Aviv was deceiving Washington as it built a nuclear bomb in secrecy – with more than a little help from the French.

CIA documents from the early 1960s that have since been declassified record speculation about the political backing in Paris for the suspicious nuclear cooperation between the French and Israeli militaries.

In a 1961 report, the CIA noted that the French ambassador to Israel “confirmed” that his military attaché in Israel “was much more intimately connected to the Israeli Army than is usual for an attaché”. The document concluded that, “It is unlikely that such cooperation would be possible without political support.”

France, at that time, was trying to recover diplomatically from the disastrous 1956 Suez crisis, which saw the British-French-Israeli invasion of Egypt until heavy pressure from Washington and Moscow prompted an embarrassing withdrawal.

With the Algerian independence war raging, the French government, under Charles de Gaulle, did not want to bear the onus of Arab hostility for arming Israel – publicly. But the high-level “cooling off” in French-Israeli relations “does not seem to have affected the close military ties cemented by cooperation in the Suez incident”, the CIA concluded.

That was more than 60 years and many Mideast wars ago. US suspicions about French-Israeli relations have now given way to outrage as President Emmanuel Macron pushes several Western countries to jointly recognise the state of Palestine. France is also co-hosting, along with Saudi Arabia, a June 17-20 UN summit to accelerate a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

The French diplomatic drive appears to have incensed the top US diplomat in Israel. In an interview with Fox News over the weekend, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee lashed out at Macron’s advocacy for a Palestinian state. “If France is really so determined to see a Palestinian state, I’ve got a suggestion for them – carve out a piece of the French Riviera and create a Palestinian state,” he said.

Meanwhile Israel, facing increasing international isolation over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, has kept up a high-octane tirade against France over the past few weeks.

On Friday, shortly after Macron asserted that a recognition of a Palestinian state was “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity”, Israel issued a blistering response. “President Macron’s Crusade Against the Jewish State Continues,” said an Israeli foreign ministry statement posted on X. Countering yet another UN warning of a looming, Israeli-imposed enforced famine in Gaza, Israel maintained that the “facts do not interest Macron. There is no humanitarian blockade. That is a blatant lie.”

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French-Israeli relations have come a long way since the inception period of close political and military ties following the 1948 creation of Israel. Over the past seven decades, bilateral relations have careened from cooperation over shared strategic interests in the Arab world to periods of arms embargoes and warnings, followed by phases of rapprochement until they hit rocky ground again.

Along the way, French noises about recognising a Palestinian state have been invariably met with Israeli allegations of anti-Semitism and barbed reminders of the Vichy-era collaboration with the Nazis.

Tempers flare in church

The latest anti-French screed by Israel and its supporters have been met, for the most part, with a Gallic shrug in French Mideast circles.

“The reactions are not really surprising. They are pretty much in line with the hawkish rhetoric that has been emanating from the Israeli government. But they have taken it up a notch because they are sort of panicking, because they realise that Western public opinion is shifting very rapidly,” said Karim Emile Bitar, a lecturer in Middle East studies at SciencesPo, Paris.

“This is not something new. French relations with Israel have always been difficult. Almost every French president since Charles de Gaulle has been called anti-Semitic by the Israeli government. Almost everyone, except perhaps Sarkozy,” added Bitar, referring to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. “But today, the Israelis are becoming almost insulting. Sometimes, it appears that there is a willingness to humiliate France.”

The slights have included diplomatic dust-ups, such as a brief detention of French embassy staff in November during a visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to a holy site in Jerusalem historically administered by France. When Israeli security forces entered the compound of the Church of the Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives and detained two French consulate gendarmes, Barrot had to cancel his church visit and France issued a summons to the Israeli ambassador in Paris.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot walks away after cancelling his scheduled visit to the Church of the Pater Noster in Jerusalem, November 7, 2024. © Menahem Kahana, AFP

It was not the first such incident at French-administered religious sites in a part of Jerusalem annexed by Israel in the 1967 war. In January 2020, Macron was forced to put his foot down during a visit to the Church of Sainte-Anne in the walled Old City, when Israeli security forces pushed their way into the site. “Everybody knows the rules,” Macron berated the security officials. “I don’t like what you did, in front of me. Go outside.”

Read moreMacron rebukes Israeli security forces in altercation at Jerusalem church

In France, presidential explosions – in heavily French-accented English – in Jerusalem churches are viewed as emblematic of the long-standing yet testy ties between the two countries. They even inspire memes and musicians. In 1996, for instance, an exasperated Jacques Chirac told Israeli soldiers at Sainte-Anne: “What do you want? You want me to go back to my plane and come back to France?” Chirac’s lines are often repeated in France, including in song lyrics.

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Moving G7 nations to recognise Palestinian statehood

But French patience with heavy-handed Israeli security personnel is wearing thin, particularly when it comes to defenceless Palestinians. As Gazans face starvation, death and dislocation, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz’s pledge that “no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza” or National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s assertion that Gazans deserve “not even an ounce of food or aid” have been met with horror in France.

Israel’s refusal to address core issues of the Palestinian conflict and its verbal lashings of its allies for bringing it up are also exasperating diplomats in Paris.

Michel Duclos, a former French ambassador to Syria and a special adviser to the Paris-based Institut Montaigne, believes there are two elements behind the recent Israeli backlash. “First, it has been years and years now since the Israelis have taken a very hard stance against France. Second, they are very upset about the issue of the recognition of the state of Palestine. They consider, rightly so, that Macron is leading the move from the very last G7 countries that have not recognised the state of Palestine.”

While much of the Arab world, Africa, Asia and several eastern European countries recognised the state of Palestine in the 1980s, Western nations have held back, maintaining that Palestinians can only gain statehood as part of a negotiated peace with Israel.

But Israel’s latest military onslaught in Gaza, which has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, has boosted European support for Palestinian statehood. Out of 193 UN member states, 147 recognise the state of Palestine, including Spain, Ireland, Norway and Slovenia, the latest European additions to join the ranks. The G7 countries – comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US – have held out, with the US using its veto at the UN Security Council last year to prevent a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member state.

Read moreUS veto sinks latest Palestinian bid for full UN membership

In the lead-up to the June 17-20 UN summit, French foreign ministry statements have carefully noted that the “legitimate aspiration” for a Palestinian state must be accompanied by a comprehensive strategy that includes disarming Hamas, the release of hostages held by the militant group after the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack, a reform of the Palestinian Authority and a “day after” reconstruction plan for Gaza.

The Israeli response has focused on characterising the French initiative as a “reward to Hamas”, Duclos notes. “Maybe they believe that. I don’t know, I can’t say. But if that’s the case, I think it’s a mistake because you can argue that it’s exactly the opposite. The way to deprive Hamas of legitimacy is to say that there should be a Palestinian state, of course – not in the hands of Hamas or in the hands of the extremists, but in the hands of a reformed Palestinian Authority.”

Back to ‘Gaullo-Mitterrandism’?

Since the October 7 Hamas attack, Macron has shifted his position with the deteriorating humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza. It’s a move dictated by ethical, international as well as domestic concerns in France, home to Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish communities, where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a lightning rod issue.

“Macron has been trying to use his traditional en même temps approach to foreign policy,” said Bitar, referring to the French term for “at the same time” – a phrase deployed for Macron’s frequent, seemingly contradictory positions. “Initially, he was very supportive of Israel after the October 7th massacres. But progressively, he started to change his rhetoric, and he became increasingly critical of Israel.”

Read moreMacron’s ‘en même temps’ leaves France’s reputation hanging in the mix

While critics lampoon the centrist president’s en même temps proclivity, Macron’s shifts on the Mideast have been consistent with changing French positions on a longstanding crisis.

De Gaulle, the founding figure of the modern French republic, did the first presidential flip when he finally put the brakes on military ties with Israel and imposed an arms embargo after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. He then launched what is called the politique arabe de la France, France’s Arab policy, which brought Paris closer to the demands of the Palestinians and of other Arab countries.

The position continued under the presidency of Socialist leader François Mitterrand, sparking the concept of “Gaullo-Mitterrandism” in French foreign policy circles.

Gaullo-Mitterrandism placed France within the Western alliance as a sort of dissenting member – never fully aligned, unlike Britain – with US foreign policy. Mitterrand’s successor, Jacques Chirac, put Gaullo-Mitterrandism on centre stage in 2003, when France opposed the US invasion of Iraq, which was vociferously supported by Israel.

When Chirac’s successor Nicolas Sarkozy came to power in 2007, “things started to change”, explained Bitar. “In France, he was the first openly pro-Israel French president. And after Sarkozy, under François Hollande, France started to be perceived as just another Western country: it was no longer sending a discordant, dissident voice within the collective West,” he noted. “France … lost its soft power in the Arab world because of this.”

After nearly two decades of French alliance with the US on Mideast policy, “Macron is trying to bring some balance, maintain solid relations with Israel, but criticising it whenever necessary. And in the past few months, he has been raising his tone,” Bitar said.

As US President Donald Trump’s hostility toward Europe and its institutions draws other Western capitals closer together, Macron has been spearheading talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canada’s Mark Carney, Australia’s Anthony Albanese and other leaders ahead of the upcoming UN two-state solution summit.

Experts agree that a Western recognition of a Palestinian state, if it were to happen, is unlikely to change the situation on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank while Israel continues to enjoy Washington’s protection. They can’t seem to agree, however, on what to make of a slate of recent Trump administration moves in the region that are firmly opposed by Israel. These include reopening nuclear talks with Iran, lifting sanctions on Syria and meeting interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, as well as announcing a truce with Yemen’s Houthis and directly dealing with Hamas for the release of a US hostage in Gaza.

While the latest Trump twists in the region are being closely followed in foreign policy circles, Duclos believes they are unlikely to impact geostrategic calculations in European capitals. “You can’t base your policy on what Trump thinks today when you don’t know what he’s going to think tomorrow,” he said.

These geostrategic shifts may account for the tone of Israel’s vitriolic broadsides against Paris in recent months. “France is perceived as a European heavyweight because it’s a former colonial power in the Middle East,” said Bitar. “France’s diplomacy can have an important symbolic weight.”

Starmer hosts Palestinian PM at Downing Street as UK announces £100m aid package and renewed push for ceasefire

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer (L) meets with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa. Picture: Getty

By Flaminia Luck

Sir Keir Starmer has announced a package of support for the Palestinian Territories as he hosted the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

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At the meeting in Downing Street, Starmer told Muhammad Mustafa that the UK “does not support the resumption in hostilities” in Gaza, which “are in nobody’s interests”.

He also announced a support package, which will include £101 million for humanitarian relief, economic development and governance and reform.

The Prime Minister told Mustafa it was important to “return to a ceasefire as quickly as possible” and to get “humanitarian aid in at speed and at volume”.

He also reaffirmed the UK’s support for the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, which would involve the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected calls for a two-state solution, instead claiming Israel needs to control all of the land ‘west of the Jordan river’ for its security.

However, the two-state solution is backed by the US, the UK and United Nations. Starmer told Mustafa it is “the only long-term, lasting solution” and said that it also applies to Gaza.

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“This visit will reaffirm the UK’s commitment to recognising a Palestinian state in the future as a contribution to that process,” Starmer added.

Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s meeting with Mohammad Mustafa is the first such official visit since 2021.

The Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammad Mustafa (L) shakes hands with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Downing Street on April 28, 2025 in London, England. Picture: Getty

Starmer also emphasised the situation in the West Bank, where he said “unlawful settlement and violence is of deep concern.”

Israeli settlers have been regularly attacking Palestinians in the West Bank under the protection of the Israeli army as the level of settler violence has skyrocketed since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023.

According to the United Nations, 2024 has seen the most incidents of settler violence since its records began.

Discussing the Arab Plan for Gaza, the Prime Minister shared the UK’s support for the Palestinian Authority’s reform programme, which he said is critical.

“The leaders agreed that a strategic political framework will be necessary as part of the implementation of a two-state solution, and that Hamas must have no role in Gaza’s governance,” Downing Street said.

“They both agreed that the UK would continue to work closely with the Palestinian Authority and regional partners to find a constructive way forward, and deliver lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike. The leaders looked forward to speaking again soon.”

The Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the Occupied West Bank, has become deeply unpopular among Palestinians living in the Territories.

Israeli settlers escorted by Israeli forces participate in a provocative tour in Hebron city, West Bank on January 11, 2024. Picture: Alamy

This is largely because of its failure to protect the population from settler attacks, as well as repeated crackdowns on dissent against its rule.

But Mustafa said he hoped the region would be able to overcome its “many challenges” with the help of partners like the UK.

Speaking to Keir Starmer at Downing Street, Mustafa said: “As you said many challenges today in the region. We hope working with partners like yourselves we will be able to overcome this.”

“These are very difficult but I think it was a reminder that we need to deal with the root problem of all of this, which is the absence of the implementation of the two-state solution.

“So we look forward to working with you on this and we want to take this opportunity to thank you for all the support – financial, economic, humanitarian support, but also the support you’re providing for our reforms agenda which is important for us.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “This visit marks a significant step in strengthening our relationship with the Palestinian Authority – a key partner for peace in the Middle East – at a critical moment.

“The UK is clear that there can be no role for Hamas in the future of Gaza and we are committed to working with the Palestinian Authority as the only legitimate governing entity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

“We will not give up on the two-state solution, with a Palestinian state and Israel living side-by-side in peace, dignity and security. I reaffirm the UK’s commitment to recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution to that process, at a time that has the greatest impact.”