Are there fireworks between Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry?

Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau had dinner this week at an upscale restaurant in Montreal.

After TMZ first reported the story, rumours started to swirl about whether the two were on a date, and what the future could hold for the pair.

Today on Commotion, gossip columnist Lainey Lui and investigative journalist Justin Ling join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about why these two love the limelight, and what our reaction reveals about the moment we're living in.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: You cover politics, Justin. Watching this story, Lainey just pointed out this idea that they could have done this in private…. When you think about Justin Trudeau as a political figure, how do you think of this being in conversation with the way that he was as a politician? 

Justin: So, for starters, I swear I'm not coming for Lainey's job as a gossip columnist, but I do live here in Montreal. I do have connections. I have some sources, and I can tell you that when they booked the reservation for this dinner, they were pretty upfront. They knew there was going to be paparazzi outside, or at least people taking photos, or whatever. They intentionally did not do this as a private dinner. It has been speculated this was a soft launch. Again, not my business. I swear I'm not coming for your work, Lainey.

Elamin: It's a little bit your business, but that's OK. 

Justin: So, you know, people who maybe have that pain of like, "Oh, well, they should be allowed to have this in private." They know they're having it in public. It's on purpose. And you always have to remember that so much of what Justin Trudeau does is following in the footsteps of his father. His father famously was a tabloid king, even when he was still in office. He dated Kim Cattrall in his later years. He dated Barbra Streisand quite publicly, or it was at least publicly speculated. So a lot of this is very purposeful.

And to some degree, when he was prime minister, he was kind of this hybrid celebrity-politician, and he was always like this. He loves hobnobbing with American celebrities. He loves being in the limelight. He likes being kind of performative. And now that he's out of office, he's just doing this without all of the baggage of actually having to lead a country. What this is setting him up for, the next step, is going to be interesting. I don't know that I actually care, but certainly I think there's gonna be a lot more of it.

Elamin: I do think that some of the public appearances and public performances after his resignation, after he was no longer prime minister, have been befuddling to me, Lainey. For example, I think the first photo that he posted on Instagram after he was no longer prime minister was a trip to Canadian Tire, but the caption was posted in English and French. I was like, what is that? I don't know what compels a person to do that after you are no longer holding that office. But the idea that you still want to maintain the appearance of being like, "I am everybody's person, I sort of belong to everybody." So when you listen to what Justin just said there, what's your take on that idea that this coheres with Trudeau as a hybrid politician and celebrity?

Lainey: I 100 per cent agree with what Justin said — and thank you for being my source. I will quote you later in my column, about the reservation. And so I 100 per cent agree with the image of Justin Trudeau and the legacy he comes from. His father was a tabloid prime minister in terms of being, I don't know, in the politics write-ups, but also there was so much interest in his personal life because he was single, right? He was single for so much of the time that he was in office. But it also kind of feeds into a classic rom-com trope: the single politician, ex-politician, the pop star coming together. And he knows this, too. 

I mean, this is also a prime minister who's pretty tapped in with pop culture…. So this is 100 per cent the prime minister and celebrity I know to be as Justin Trudeau. It's not, like, an about-face. It's not a pivot to a new personality. This person is quite familiar to us, and Katy Perry is quite familiar to us. And I actually think this is a good match because, you know, you're talking about the Canadian Tire thing — was it a little corny? I'm not trying to put words in your mouth.

Elamin: No, let me just answer that question. Yes, it was. 

Lainey: Exactly. It was a little corny, but so is Katy Perry. She's corny af, right? So to me, this is a match made in rom-com heaven. Like, of course I'm rejoicing because this makes my job easier. I have a personal investment in this. But also this is just, I mean, it was written. It was scripted. I know this is a random hookup, but at the same time, when I think about it, I'm like, everything lines up. The math is math-ing.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Jess Low.