Former world leaders pop up in all sorts of places: Davos panels, state funerals, the Olympic Games. Rarely, however, do they pop up in TMZ because they are “on vacay mode in south of France.”
Such, however, was the case last weekend with Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister of Canada and the current boyfriend of the pop star Katy Perry. The two were photographed cuddling on a beach in St.-Tropez in shades and bathing suits, cavorting in the surf, sunning themselves on a boat, helping each other apply sunscreen and so on.
“It’s uncharted territory,” said Vincent Raynauld, an associate professor of communication studies at Emerson College who has been studying Trudeau since 2017.
Forget the elder statesman dispensing hard-won wisdom sparingly from the wings (the usual next act of those once elected to the highest seats in whatever land). Behold the celebrity statesman. Or the paparazzi-magnet politician.
It is but one of the various incarnations Trudeau has assumed since leaving office in March 2025 (and separating from his wife in 2023). Though unquestionably the most striking.
Initially, he seemed to be opting for a post-politics persona — more man of the people, just a regular guy. His first Instagram pic after stepping down from office was a selfie he took while shopping at a Canadian Tire superstore in a faded denim jacket and green tee.
Then he seemed to embrace a more traditional role, speechifying about the issues that defined his time in office (the environment, Indigenous rights), videotaping an address for the Liberal Party convention.
But it is his position as a pop star’s supporting partner, complete with a corresponding wardrobe update, that has garnered the most attention.
There he was hanging out with Perry at Coachella in a plain white T-shirt, faded jeans and a backward baseball hat, the new look immortalized for her 195.8 million followers to see on her Instagram feed. Here he was accompanying Perry to the premiere of her concert movie at the Tribeca Film Festival in a tux with no tie. There he was on the Riviera, shirtless.
That his new look would draw attention would not have escaped him. A keen understanding of social media and the attention economy has been part of Trudeau’s political arsenal for years. As has celebrity, given that he was born the son of a sitting prime minister and grew up in the spotlight. In his first general election as head of the Liberal Party in 2015, his hair played almost as big a role as his policies.
Later his character socks became an expression of soft diplomacy, be it the maple leaf pair he wore on “Live With Kelly and Ryan” or the NATO flag pair he wore to a — yes — NATO meeting. He appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone and was the subject of a glamorous Vogue profile. On his official Instagram feed, there were as many posts featuring pictures of him jogging or photo-bombing other people’s selfies as there were of him behind a desk. He understands how images can be used to create and maintain parasocial relationships.
Even if they are not the images people expect. Maybe especially when they are not the images people expect.
There is a long history of political powers dating or even marrying celebrities, including Senator John W. Warner and Elizabeth Taylor, Senator Cory Booker and Rosario Dawson, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and the model Carla Bruni, and Trudeau’s own father, Pierre Trudeau, and Barbra Streisand, Kim Cattrall and Margot Kidder. In most cases, though, the celebrities enter the politician’s world, remaking themselves to fit.
Perry has done that on occasion, dressing in a quasi-corporate costume of camel skirt suit and what look like clip-on gold button earrings, her hair pulled back in a discreet bun, at Davos, but in most cases it is Trudeau who has remodeled himself to slide seamlessly into the world of his pop star girlfriend.
On one level, that plays into the Trudeau brand, said Alex Marland, a professor of Canadian politics at Acadia University in Nova Scotia. “While he was prime minister, feminism was a big part of his platform,” Marland said, referring to the much heralded fact that Trudeau’s first cabinet was 50 percent women.
“To portray himself as a dominant male in this situation,” Marland said, “would go against the values he claimed to represent.” Instead, his choices underscore his identity as a modern man able to sublimate his own fame and ego in favor of his partner. And live his best life while romping in the sand.
One of the criticisms of Trudeau when he was in office was that he won election because of his personal charisma and family name, rather than policy expertise. Seeming to buy into the world of celebrity after office risks reinforcing that perception, especially when it involves hanging out on yachts in the Mediterranean.
And all of this is complicated by the fact that many people in Canada are “very frustrated with the United States,” Raynauld said. “And now you have a former prime minister who is dating a U.S. pop star and spending a lot of time in the U.S.”
This became a particular issue during the recent FIFA World Cup, when Trudeau opted not to attend Team Canada’s opening match but went to the American team’s opener because Perry was singing at the event. Private citizenship, apparently, excuses only so much when you were once the face of the country. Especially when your chosen style seems more middle-aged Hollywood hipster than Ottawa heavyweight.
Whether or not you approve, Trudeau’s rebrand is evidence that politics and entertainment are ever more intertwined. Dressing the part is just the beginning.
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