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Margaret Trudeau makes rare appearance alongside Sophie Grégoire
Margaret Trudeau, mother of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, made a rare public appearance Tuesday night, sitting courtside at an Ottawa Blackjacks game with Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.
They were there to support son and grandson, Xavier Trudeau. The 18-year-old R&B musician performed during half-time at the home opener for the Blackjacks, Ottawa’s pro-basketball team. Xavier’s father, Justin, was not with them.
He had cheered on his son in a social media post made before the game. It was filmed on the Blackjacks basketball court on Monday and shared on the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Instagram.
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“We’re at TD Place,” says Xavier, announcing his half-time show “for the Ottawa Blackjacks. We’re standing on the logo.” Then Justin says he is “just a proud dad at soundcheck” before passing a basketball to Xavier for a half-court shot attempt.
Xavier launched his music career last year with the release of a single entitled “Til The Nights Done.” Since then, he has released several additional singles along with his debut summer 2025 EP, When Does It End.
Prior to the Blackjacks game, Margaret’s most recent public appearance was on April 10 at a retirement home in Ottawa.
Billed by Hunt Club Manor Retirement Living and the Canadian Association of Retired People as “a truly meaningful and powerful afternoon,” Margaret shared her journey, exploring: breaking stigma through open conversation; building resilience, hope, and understanding; how can we better support ourselves and those around us.
Margaret first gained prominence in the 1970s when she dated Pierre Trudeau, Justin’s father and prime minister from 1968 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984. The duo married in 1971, when he was 51 and she was 22. They were nicknamed the “royal couple,” Canada’s History magazine noted in 2011.
Married in 1971, the relationship began to fall apart a few years later. Margaret was captured by the press as a frequenter of New York’s Studio 54 dance club. When Pierre lost his majority government in 1979, Margaret was reported as far from his side, partying with the Rolling Stones (as she discussed in a 2016 interview with Harper’s Bazaar and Mick Jagger mentioned in the New York Post in 2024).
The couple divorced in 1982, after having three sons, including Justin, Alexandre “Sacha” and Michel (who was killed in an avalanche in 1998).
After splitting from Pierre, she had a series of high profile liaisons with celebrities such as rock star Mick Jagger, actor Jack Nicholson and U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, described in her first book, Consequences.
Decades later she revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In 2010, she release a memoir called Changing My Mind, sharing the story of her struggle with the disorder.
Subsequently, she released a second memoir, The Time of Your Life, discussing the struggles faced by women in later life. Having retreated from the public eye, she told Reader’s Digest in 2018: “I love the position I’m in now, where I am able to make a difference as a mental-health advocate without having people watch my every move like they used to.”
The following year, at age 70, she did a one-woman show at Chicago’s Second City called Certain Woman of an Age. It was a show meant to raise awareness about women’s mental health struggles, reported National Public Radio.
She is an honorary patron of the Canadian Mental Health Association, B.C. division.
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