FILE – In this March 15, 2017, file photo, Matthew Perry arrives at a special screening of “The Kennedys – After Camelot” at The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, California.
Just days before his death shocked the world, Matthew Perry posted a now-eerie image to social media with a perplexing caption.
The photo showed the "Friends" star at night in his hot tub with headphones on.
"Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I'm Mattman," the caption read.
The post marked the latest in a series of "Mattman" posts Perry had published in recent weeks, leaving some fans confused and some concerned.
Five days later, the actor was found dead at his Los Angeles home, according to coroner's records. An investigation into how Perry died is ongoing, and it may take weeks before his cause of death is determined, but Perry's body was found in a hot tub at his home, according to unnamed sources cited by the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news.
No foul play is suspected, and it was first reported as a water rescue, law enforcement sources told NBC News.
As for the post's caption, the editor-in-chief of People magazine, Wendy Naugle, told TODAY during a visit Monday that the word “Mattman” in Perry’s final Instagram post referred to a project he was working on.
“He was writing a little script. That’s where the ‘Mattman’ reference comes from in his Instagram,” Naugle said.
Previous posts referencing the phrase included a video of the moon, captioned with "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you? - I'm Mattman."
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Perry had previously expressed his love of "Batman," including mentions of it in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing."
“Someday you, too, might be called upon to do something important, so be ready for it,” the book's final sentence reads. “And when whatever happens, just think, What would Batman do? and do that.”
In the book, Perry also detailed his lifelong battle with alcohol and drug addiction.
Perry wrote that his struggle with sobriety began while he was on the cast of “Friends,” where he struggled with alcohol addiction and was at one point taking 55 Vicodin a day.
In a November 2022 interview with Tom Power about the memoir, Perry shared how he hoped others would remember him.
“I’d like to be remembered as somebody who lived well, loved well, was a seeker,” he said. “And his paramount thing is that he wants to help people. That’s what I want.”
