Matthew Perry quickly backtracks his musings on Keanu Reeves’ death

After taking aim at innocent bystander and national treasure Keanu Reeves, Friends’ Matthew Perry has offered an apology for contemplating Reeves’ continued existence in his new book, Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing.

“I’m actually a big fan of Keanu,” Perry now says, per The Hollywood Reporter. “I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”

Reeves’ name comes up in not one, but two excerpts from Perry’s forthcoming memoir. Both passages take a moment to lament the death of dear friends and fellow actors, while inexplicably channeling derision toward Reeves for continuing to “walk among us.”

“It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down,” the first except reads. “Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?”

“I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us,” Perry later writes about Chris Farley’s death. “I had to promote Almost Heroes two weeks after he died; I found myself publicly discussing his death from drugs and alcohol. I was high the entire time.”

Maybe he truly means no harm, and Reeves’ name arose in Perry’s mind due to his work and deep friendship with Phoenix. Nonetheless, it’s certainly a choice, considering Perry’s own relationship with addiction and the struggles of sobriety. In a new profile with GQ, Perry reflects on being someone who has not lost their life to the tragedies of addiction.

“There has to be some reason why I’m still here, having done all of this crazy stuff, and I came to the conclusion it’s to write a book that will help people who are going through the same thing that I am, or did,” Perry says. “Plus, I wanted the general public to realize how hard it was to quit and not be judgmental for people who are using. Because it is really, really hard.”

“It’s not an ego journey or anything like that,” he continues. “It’s the cold, hard truth about being an addict. Who made it. Who has to make it every day. The work you have to put in every day to save yourself from this monster that lives in your brain is a baffling thing to live with.”