Katy Perry kisses Justin Trudeau after World Cup opening performance

Cameras caught Katy Perry running off stage to greet Justin Trudeau with a kiss after her opening performance at FIFA’s World Cup ceremony at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on June 12, 2026. The moment, equal parts pop spectacle and political afterimage, underscored how Canada’s former prime minister has become a figure whose private life now travels almost as loudly as his public record.

Trudeau was seen in the stands with Perry before defending his choice to attend the U.S. opener instead of Canada’s first match. “Sometimes supportive boyfriend duties call,” he wrote on X, adding that he was rooting for Canada to take the Cup. The explanation did little to quiet the reaction back home, where critics blasted his absence from a historic night for the men’s national team and framed the decision as a sign of how far he has drifted from the formal duties that once defined him.

Canada’s opening match in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina ended 1-1, with Cyle Larin scoring the equalizer in the 78th minute after Jovo Lukić put Bosnia ahead in the first half. The draw gave Canada its first point in the tournament and came in the country’s first-ever men’s World Cup match on Canadian soil, a milestone that made Trudeau’s choice of venue feel politically loaded even as it played out inside a celebrity storyline. Online, some Canadians called the move a “slap in the face,” a “traitor” act and a “fraud,” while others treated the stadium appearance as proof that the relationship itself had become part of the country’s public conversation.

Trudeau and Perry had made their red-carpet debut together four days earlier at the Tribeca Festival, where Perry premiered her concert film, “Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour - Live from Paris.” The pairing gave a new frame to Trudeau’s life after leaving office in March 2025, after serving as Canada’s prime minister and spending 18 years married to Sophie Grégoire Trudeau before their separation in 2023. They have three children. Perry, meanwhile, was previously married to comedian Russell Brand from 2010 to 2012.

For Trudeau, the kiss at SoFi was more than a celebrity flourish. It was another public sign that one of Canada’s most recognizable political names is now moving through a different kind of spotlight, where romance, entertainment and national symbolism collide, and where every appearance still carries political meaning in Canada.