Matthew Perry’s ketamine dealer’s tryst with Hollywood has a Scarlett Johansson connection
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Erik Fleming, who was allegedly involved in Matthew Perry's ketamine overdose death in 2023, also directed a children's movie featuring Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes.
Five individuals have been arrested and charged with supplying the 'Friends' star with the ketamine that led to his death.
Included among them are two physicians, Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, Perry's personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, and Jasveen Sangha, who is referred to as the 'Ketamine Queen of Los Angeles'.
The fifth defendant, Erik Fleming, is a former director and producer who court documents referred to as an "acquaintance" of Perry's.
Erik Fleming’s tumultuous transition from Hollywood director to co-conspirator
The 54-year-old Erik Fleming admitted to being a co-conspirator in providing the ketamine that led to Matthew Perry's death. Prior to this, Fleming appeared to have a promising career in Hollywood as a director and producer, Daily Beast reported.
In the 1990s, Fleming received credit on IMDb for directing four films: 'The Silver Surfer' (1992), 'Cyber Bandits' (1995), 'Tyrone' (1999) and 'My Brother the Pig' (1999), the latter being a children's fantasy-comedy featuring Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, and Judge Reinhold.
In the movie, a teenage Johansson portrays a girl whose frustrating younger brother is transformed into a pig; Reinhold assumes the role of her father, while Mendes is cast as the family's housekeeper. The film did not achieve commercial success.
In addition to producing an episode of the original series 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy', Fleming managed a production company known as Rich Hippie Productions, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Fleming also received credit as a producer for the reality TV series 'The Surreal Life', as well as a number of other films, such as 'Amnesiac' (2014) featuring Kate Bosworth, and the documentary drama 'The Seventh Fire' (2015).
Erik Fleming pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy
The US Department of Justice stated that Erik Fleming had "coordinated the sales of ketamine" with Jasveen Sangha and had “brought cash from (Kenneth) Iwamasa to Sangha’s stash house in North Hollywood to buy vials of ketamine”.
Fleming pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, Independent reported.
“These defendants took advantage of Mr Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said. “They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr Perry, but they did it anyway. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting.”
Iwamasa has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death, whereas Chavez, a San Diego-based physician, has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.
