Matt Gaetz Takes Aim at Alan Ritchson After ‘Reacher’ Star Called Him a ‘Motherf—er’: ‘He’s Trying to Get Hollywood Attention but Not Just With Steroids’

Matt Gaetz shot back at “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson after the actor went viral for a GQ interview in which he slammed Gaetz, the former U.S. representative for Florida’s 1st congressional district. Ritchson and Gaetz attended school together after the former’s family moved from Illinois to Niceville, Fla.

“That motherfucker. We are adversaries,” Ritchson told GQ about Gaetz. “It’s shocking to me that the panhandle of Florida continues to vote for somebody — knowing everything we know about him and the promises that he’s made behind closed doors about pardoning certain criminals — he’s just not a good dude!”

Responding to Ritchson on both his personal and professional X profiles, Gaetz wrote that “Hollywood apparently changes people” and claimed: “We were not ‘adversaries’ as I won debate championships and Alan did more acting stuff… He was always very nice to me (and everyone) and his mother, the computer lab monitor, loved me.”

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“Spoiler alert: We were not adversaries,” Gaetz doubled down on his professional account. “He’s just trying to get Hollywood attention (but not just with the steroids).”

In his GQ interview, Ritchson admitted that “part of me that wants to get into politics to outdo somebody like [Gaetz] for good, and there’s part of me that’s like, I’m not duplicitous enough to succeed in politics.”

Gaetz’s role as a U.S. representative for Florida ended in late 2024 when he exited the role and was nominated by the Trump administration nominated to be U.S. attorney general. He gave up the bid amid allegations of sexual misconduct, which led to an investigation by the House Ethics Committee. The group ruled that Gaetz violated the House’s standard of conduct rules. Gaetz has denied the allegations against him.

Ritchson spoke to GQ as promotion for “Reacher” Season 3, the first three episodes of which are now streaming on Prime Video.