How do Justin Trudeau and Matthew Perry know each other? School friendship explored as Canada PM tweets tribute

Matthew Perry, known for his iconic portrayal of Chandler Bing in the hit 90s sitcom Friends, passed away on Saturday, October 28. The actor's death came as a shock to fans worldwide, and people mourned their beloved Chandler Bing. Multiple reports have indicated that the actor drowned to death in a hot tub, while at his Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles home. He was 54 years old at the time of his passing.

Among the many celebrities who expressed their condolences and paid their tributes to the later actor, was the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Perry had previously revealed in a 2017 Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearence that the duo had attended elementary school together.

The later actor had also mentioned that he and a friend had once beat up Trudeau. Moreover, Perry's mother was the press secretary of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who is Justin's father.

After Matthew Perry's passing on Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau took to X, formerly Twitter, to pay his respects to a childhood friend. He called Perry's passing "shocking" and "saddening."

"I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them. Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed."

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Matthew Perry joked about beating up Justin Trudeau on Jimmy Kimmel Live! many years ago

In a March 2017 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Matthew Langford Perry revealed that he and a friend had once beat up Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Perry was in fifth grade and a couple of years ahead of Trudeau, and the duo reportedly attended Rockcliffe Park Elementary School in Ottawa.

The Friends actor told Jimmy Kimmel that he was not particularly "proud of" this story.

"We both beat him up, and I think he was excelling in a sport that we weren’t, so it was pure jealousy."

Jimmy Kimmel mentioned that Justin Tradeu's father, Pierre Trudeau, was the Prime Minister at the time, which Perry clarified wasn't the reason why they beat him up. According to the actor, they had simply beaten him up because Trudeau was the only kid in school that they could give a beating to.

Matthew Perry further told Kimmel that there weren't any secret services protecting the Prime Minister's kids. Kimmel noted that this wasn't the case today and joked that if anything happened to Barron Trump (former US President Donald Trump's son), they would be in a "stockade" or "Russia somewhere." Perry confessed:

"I’m not bragging about this, this is terrible. I was a stupid kid."

However, the actor joked that this was probably "rather instrumental" in Trudeau becoming Prime Minister.

"I think he said, you know, ‘I’m going to rise above this and I’m going to become prime minister."

After Perry's story went viral on social media, Justin Trudeau himself addressed it in an April 2017 tweet, asking "who hasn't wanted to punch Chandler?", while tagging Matthew Perry and suggesting a rematch.

In a 2017 episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan, he told co-hosts, Ryan Seacrest and Kelly Ripa to tell Trudeau, "Matthew gives up", in case they run into him. He joked:

"I was like, dude you have an army at your disposal. I'm not gonna accept the challenge, and you just be the prime minister and I'll like, write plays and stuff."

Apart from the schoolyard shenanigans, Matthew Perry's mother, Suzanne Marie Morrison also had a connection to the Trudeau family. The Canadian Journalist was the press secretary of then-Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau.