Barry Keoghan is finally addressing rumors about his breakup with Sabrina Carpenter.
The actor, 33, shut down any speculation that he cheated on the pop star, 26, during his appearance Tuesday on Benny Blanco and Lil Dicky’s podcast Friends Keep Secrets.
“I feel in a safe space to say this, but I have been avoiding stuff,” Keoghan told the podcast hosts. “I came off Instagram and social profiles. I’ve stopped going to events. I’ve stopped just socializing.”
The Irish actor said that he left the internet because he was getting relentlessly bullied on social media following his breakup with Carpenter in December 2024.
“It’s because there was a narrative out there that was never really sort of even spoken on—a narrative that’s not true—and I never confirmed or said anything about it. And I just disappeared,” he added.
When Lil Dicky, whose real name is David Burd, asked what rumor Keoghan was referring to, the Saltburn star confirmed that the untrue narrative he was speaking about was a rumor that he cheated on Carpenter.
“I’m not asking for people to become my fan and like me because that’s not normal,” Keoghan continued. “I’m asking for people to stop assuming and also stop jumping on this narrative and attacking me and dragging me down in any way you can. I’m not saying this for pity. Why is it cool to hop on and beat someone up?”
The Independent has contacted a representative for Carpenter for comment.
After appearing at public events together for months — with Keoghan even starring in Carpenter’s music video for “Please Please Please” — the former couple announced they had broken up after nearly a year of dating.
“They are both young and career-focused, so they've decided to take a break,” an insider told People at the time.
News of the breakup sparked a frenzy from their fans on social media, with many speculating that Keoghan had stepped out on the “Espresso” singer, although there was no evidence of infidelity of any kind.
The rumors became so rampant that Keoghan, who shares a three-year-old son with his ex-girlfriend Alyson Sandro, shared a statement condemning the online hatred after deleting his Instagram account. He wrote in part on X at the time: “I can only sit and take so much. My name has been dragged across the internet in ways I usually don’t respond to. I have to respond now because it’s getting to a place where there are too many lines being crossed. I deactivated my account because I can no longer let this stuff distract from my family and my work.”
Last month, the actor said that online abuse about his appearance has made him reluctant to go out in public as he prepares to star as Ringo Starr in Sam Mendes’s four-film Beatles biopic in 2028.
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