Ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz Fires Back At ‘Reacher’ Star Alan Ritchson For Claiming They Were ‘Adversaries’ In High School

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) shot back at Reacher star Alan Ritchson after he declared that they were both “adversaries” while attending Niceville High School.

During an interview with GQ magazine, Ritchson claimed that he and Gaetz, who withdrew his attorney general nomination, were once “adversaries.”

“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,” the actor stated. 

On Feb. 20, Gaetz slammed Ritchson in an X post for how he described their high school relationship. “Hollywood apparently changes people,” the former Florida congressman stated. “Alan was a year behind me in high school, and we were both on the Speech and Debate Team.” 

“We were not ‘adversaries’ as I won debate championships and Alan did more acting stuff,” Gaetz noted. “As I recall, his older brother [Eric Ritchson] won more often than Alan did. He was always very nice to me (and everyone), and his mother, the computer lab monitor, loved me.”

“At her invitation, I even went to his dad’s retirement party from the Air Force,” he mentioned. “It was held at a karaoke bar called ‘Lewbos’ in Niceville where his dad sang ‘(Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay.’ I sang ‘Centerfold.'”

Gaetz has remained active since his embarrassing nomination withdrawal. In November 2024, Gaetz created a Cameo account, where he charges people $525 per video.

In December 2024, the far-right cable channel One America News Network (OAN) announced that Gaetz would join as an anchor in January 2025.