Barry Keoghan hits back over “disgusting” online abuse

Barry Keoghan hits back over “disgusting” online abuse



CNN

Irish actor Barry Keoghan has hit out at what he calls “inhumane” online trolling, accusing people of intimidating his family.

In a lengthy statement posted on X on Saturday after deactivating his Instagram account, the “Saltburn” star said he could “only sit and take so much.”

“My name has been spread across the internet in a way that I don’t normally respond to. I have to respond now because it’s gotten to the point where too many boundaries are being crossed. I can no longer allow this stuff to distract me from my family and my work,” he wrote.

Keoghan, known for his Oscar-nominated role in The Banshees of Inisherin, grew up in Dublin, Ireland, living in various nursing homes and with his grandmother as his mother was a heroin addict.

She died when he was 12 and his father died when he was 15. Critics have also taken aim at Keoghan’s role as father to two-year-old son Brando, who he shares with an ex-partner.

“No one should ever have to read the messages I received. Absolute lies, hate, vile comments about my appearance, my character, my behavior as a parent and every other inhumane thing you can imagine,” Keoghan said.

“I talked about how I was a heroin baby and how I grew up and also brought my lovely mother into it,” he added.

Keoghan said people were “knocking on my grandma’s door” and “sitting outside my little boy’s house and intimidating her”. This is a border crossing.”

While this latest flare-up comes in the wake of the alleged end of his relationship with American singer Sabrina Carpenter, it is not the first time that Keoghan has brought up the topic.

In an extensive interview on The Louis Theroux Podcast published in November, he spoke at length about the harmful effects of online trolling.

“People kind of judge me as a parent,” Keoghan said at the time.

“I think until you’ve walked in my shoes for a day as a kid, you can comment… There’s a lot online. If I didn’t have tough skin and the strength that I have, I wouldn’t be sitting here,” he added.

“Of course being a father will affect me if I didn’t have a blueprint to work from.”

“The more I’m in the public eye, the less I post about my child because I don’t think it’s fair to put my child online, there are sick people out there,” Keoghan said.

“And because I’ve kept that in check, people are painting a narrative saying, ‘Absent father, fucking father,’ and other disgusting things that I wouldn’t even repeat.” Just the audacity of some people, man, it makes me sick and angry.”

He similarly spoke about the trolls who comment on his appearance, “especially on TikTok…people can sit there and make videos and say, ‘I don’t like his face, he looks weird, or he looks evil,’ and just .” take yourself apart.

CNN’s Issy Ronald contributed to this report.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *