What Peter Hitchens is up to now after Matthew Perry utterly owned him on Newsnight

The One About Matthew Perry has landed on Netflix, and it covers one of the late Friends star’s most memorable TV interviews – when Perry completely destroyed Peter Hitchens on Newsnight for his outdated view on addiction. 

The new Netflix documentary series is a beautiful and tragic love letter to the life of Matthew Perry, who tragically died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54. The actor had spent a lifetime battling addiction, something he was candid about in his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.

It does also cover the circumstances around his death, which was found to be the “acute effects of ketamine” and subsequent drowning. And that includes the five people – including Perry’s live-in personal assistant – who were charged and sentenced in relation to supplying the drug to him. 

But, for the most part, it focuses on the incredible work Perry achieved throughout his life, especially when it came to helping those also struggling with addiction. 

What happened during Matthew Perry’s Newsnight appearance

As part of this, The One About Matthew Perry shows a brief clip from a 2013 episode of the BBC show Newsnight about addiction. 

While Perry spoke from his years of knowledge and experience, Peter Hitchens – a journalist, commentator and someone with no personal experience with addiction – chimed in by claiming that addiction is a “fantasy”.

His solution? Deter people with a “stern and effective criminal justice system” to stop people taking substances in the first place. 

After Baroness Meacher, who chaired the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform, explained why this was wrong, Perry spoke candidly on his experience. “I’m a drug addict. I’m a person that, if I have a drink, I can’t stop,” he explained.

Hitchens resorted to making faces, something Perry called him out for. The actor then continued, “I start thinking about alcohol. I can’t stop. I can’t stop thinking about it… I’m in control of the first drink, and so I do all these things to protect myself from not having the first drink.”

Even so, Hitchens continued to show zero respect or empathy towards the situation. At the end, Meacher said, “All you’ve got to do Peter is a bit of reading of the evidence,” to which Perry chimed in, “Read something other than your book.”

His friend and former National Association of Drug Court Professionals CEO, West Huddleston, speaks about this moment in The One About Matthew Perry. “It was almost as though Matthew was saying, ‘You’re not going to talk about my people like that,’” he said. 

Following the incredible response online, Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, says in the Netflix doc, “I think that was a huge moment for him to kind of step up and really show himself publicly as somebody who can and does stand up for what this disease is all about.”

Hitchens rubbed people up the wrong way back then, and judging by his recent appearances, he continues to do so. 

Where is Peter Hitchens now?

Peter Hitchens is still very much in the public eye. The journalist and author, who is now 75 years old, continues to write for the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, as well as contributing to other publications.

Here you can find hot takes like ‘How I miss the Cold War – Britain was stronger then’ and ‘Why I’m cheering on Andrew’s case against the police’. Enough said. 

As for his personal life, Hitchens lives in Oxford with his wife, Eve Ross, who he married in 1983. The couple share three children, including their son Dan, who has followed in his father’s footsteps into journalism.

But Hitchens has been making headlines for his opinions for many years. Born in Malta in 1951, he began his journalism career on the left, even working for the Socialist Worker. FYI, its former editor, Roger Protz, once described Hitchens as “dry as a stick, and had no personality of any sort”.

Hitchins moved towards socially conservative views later in life. He went on to work for the Daily Express, serving as a foreign correspondent in Moscow and Washington, before joining The Mail on Sunday in 2001.

He’s also written several books, including The Abolition of Britain, The Rage Against God and The War We Never Fought, the latter of which explores his opposition to Britain’s approach to drugs.

And if his surname sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the younger brother of the late Christopher Hitchens, the famous writer and outspoken atheist. The pair famously disagreed on religion and politics, resulting in some rather iconic debates. 

As well as his journalism, Hitchens (the Peter one) has started sharing his views on TikTok. He’s only posted a few over the past year, including rants on weed and e-bikes.

But probably his most notable moment of the past few years unfolded in 2023, when he stormed off the Within Reason podcast while speaking to the host, philosopher and podcaster Alex O’Connor. 

And, rather fittingly, the subject that sent him over the edge was drugs. Again.

The pair were discussing drug decriminalisation. But around 40 minutes into the conversation, Hitchens decided he’d had enough, complaining that he was bored of the subject and fed up with people advocating for decriminalisation.

Things then took a rather personal turn, with Hitchens telling the podcaster: “I don’t like you … I really don’t like you.” Charming.

Featured image credit: Netflix/BBC