Reacher star Alan Ritchson slams former classmate Matt Gaetz, calls him ‘not a good dude’

Reacher star went to school with the former Florida representative, who has since been accused of illegal drug use and paying for sex with a minor

Alan Ritchson, star of the hit TV series Reacher, has spoken out against his former classmate Matt Gaetz, labeling him his “adversary.”

The 42-year-old actor, who spent part of his childhood living in Niceville, Florida, went to high school with the controversial Republican, also 42.

“That motherf***er. We are adversaries,” Ritchson said of Gaetz in a new interview with GQ.

“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 Independent has contacted Gaetz’s representative for comment.

Gaetz, who served in the House of Representatives for his home state of Florida from 2017 until his resignation in 2024, previously called on President Donald Trump to pardon disgraced National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

He also wanted Trump to issue him a pre-emptive pardon concerning the Department of Justice‘s 2021 probe into sex trafficking allegations against Gaetz.

Alan Ritchson slammed his ‘adversary’ Matt Gaetz, calling him ‘not a good guy’ (Getty Images)

In the last months of Trump’s first presidential term, the DOJ launched an investigation into whether Gaetz had paid for sex, paid for women to cross state lines to have sex, and if he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. He denied all the allegations, and the charges were later dropped in 2023.

Meanwhile, Gaetz quit Congress last November after Trump nominated him to be his attorney general. Days after his resignation, the House Ethics Committee released a “highly damaging” report about him.

The report found “substantial evidence” that the former Republican congressman “regularly” paid for sex and met women through a “sugar dating” website through a former associate who has since pleaded guilty to sex trafficking.

It also determined Gaetz likely violated rules of conduct for the House of Representatives which prohibit “prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”

The investigation ultimately led Gaetz to withdraw his name from consideration to serve as Attorney General.

“There's part of me that wants to get into politics to outdo somebody like him for good,” Ritchson told the publication. “And there's part of me that's like, I'm not duplicitous enough to succeed in politics.”