Matthew Perry’s obsession with Batman ‘wasn’t a cry for help’, says the late actor’s friend who was one of the last to see him alive.

Former Miss Teen USA Athenna Crosby had lunch with the Friends star at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles on October 27, just one day before his tragic death.

Athenna has now spoken out about Matthew’s final hours and shut down speculation his last social media posts referencing Batman were subliminal messages.

Matthew died aged 54 after he was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home on Saturday.

‘Matthew was very sweet and a little bit nerdy. He loved Batman. He called his car the Batmobile because it was all tinted black and had matt paint on it, just like the Batmobile,’ Athenna told TMZ.

‘He had been calling himself Mattman lately which was a nickname he dubbed for himself and he was really goofy and playful.

‘I think people assuming that his posts about the Bat signal or the fact he was calling himself Batman were some sort of subliminal messages to ask for help or a cry for help – that’s just completely false.

‘He was just a sweet nerd that liked Batman. He talks about his love of Batman in the book. Anybody who is speculating that it had anything to do with it is getting carried away.’

Athenna said she was speaking out ‘to attest for Matthew’s character the day before he passed’.

She said: ‘He was in an extremely good mood, he was excited about the future and he was taking care of his health. The fact that he died was a freak accident. There’s nothing fishy about it.’

Fans had speculated Matthew’s fixation with Batman was a cry for help came after all seven of his last social media posts referenced the superhero.

The frequent references to the Batman logo made many fans to believe it was actually Perry’s own bat signal, which is the distress signal used in fictional Gotham City to summon Batman to help.

Fans suggested the actor’s posts may have been his own call for help.

Matthew regularly signed his posts with ‘I’m Mattman’ – his Batman-inspired nickname.

He wrote the caption: ‘No need to worry everybody,’ Perry wrote, ‘I’ve got the streets tonight.’

In another post, he showed the bat signal lit up in red lights, with the message: ‘Sleep well everybody. I’ve got the city tonight—Mattman.’ It was followed by a picture of a sign reading: ‘BATMAN PLAYS PICKLEBALL.’

Pickleball was the sport Perry was believed to be playing just hours before his death.

He also posted a video of three red berries, writing: ‘This is what I’ve had to eat today. I’m Mattman’ as well as a carved pumpkin with a Batman logo hole.

His penultimate post was of the half-moon in the sky, with the caption: ‘Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?—I’m Mattman.’

And in his final public post, he called himself Mattman again, as he posed in a pool at night with the half-moon behind him, with the caption: ‘Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I’m Mattman.’

Previously, Perry admitted that he saw himself as Batman – a young, damaged individual who channeled the loss of his parents into being a crime-fighting vigilante with a strong sense of justice to help other people.

He called the superhero a ‘rich loner,’ which was a description he related to after getting into the movies directed by Christopher Nolan directed in the mid 2000s.

Investigations into Perry’s death are still ongoing, however officials have said there are no indications foul play was a factor.

He is believed to have drowned, although an official cause of death has not been announced.

First responders on the scene revealed that when Perry was found by his assistant, he was found underwater before she lifted his head up in a desperate attempt to get him some air.

By the time the Los Angeles Fire Department arrived at his Pacific Palisades home, the actor was already dead, it was later determined.

It comes after a 15-second dispatch call emerged revealing the moment his assistant called 911 to report a possible cardiac arrest.

Perry had been open about his past struggles with alcohol and substance abuse, but said in recent interviews he was clean and sober.

Perry wrote in his memoir, published last year, that he had spent $9 million trying to get sober, revealing he had been to 6,000 AA meetings, gone to rehab 15 times, and been in detox 65 times.

First responders are said to have found anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications at the property – but there was no sign of any illegal drugs.

Family friends had also reported that he seemed ‘fatigued’ in the days before his death.