Bird star Barry Keoghan has responded to criticism about his personal life.
The BAFTA Film Award-winning Banshees of Inisherin and Saltburn actor has often refrained from discussing his life away from the screen, though there remains lots of media interest in his relationship with singer Sabrina Carpenter.
Keoghan shared back in 2022 that he'd had a son from a previous relationship but has understandably been guarded over speaking publicly about fatherhood.
During an appearance on The Louis Theroux Podcast for Spotify, Keoghan hit back at those who criticise him for not sharing more about his son.
"There's a lot online. If I didn't have tough skin or the strength to have, I wouldn't be sitting here," he acknowledged. "Of course, [his childhood is] going to affect me being a father when I had no blueprint to take from. People just read that [as] laziness and go, ‘Oh, that's no excuse to be an absent father.’ I'm not an absent father.
Related: Best streaming services 2024 — including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV+
What to Read Next
"But it's just, again, people love to use my son as ammunition or whatever. And it kind of leads me to stop. The more attention I've got lately and the more in the public I've become, the less I've posted about my child, because I don't think it's fair to put my child online."
The actor later confessed: "People draw a narrative and go ‘absent father, shit, deadbeat dad,’ and more disgusting things I wouldn't even repeat. Just the audacity of some people, man. It sickens me, makes me furious."
Louis Theroux encouraged the actor not to waste his time engaging with critical social media comments from people who don't know him.
"I've been off [social media] because when I'm going through a role, I'm getting into character," Keoghan explained. "I stay away from the internet […] But again, when I've got a bit of time, I am a curious being like all of us and you want to know what [people are saying online] especially when it's slander and when it's bad comments attacking my appearance or attacking me as a father. I've even blocked out certain words because I don't want to read that."
When asked about the topics he's blocked on social media, Keoghan replied: "Stuff like my son, people don't deserve to put that in a sentence, anything. I'm just trying to make a living, trying to get a good body of work and create safety for my child."
In his professional life, the actor is starring in filmmaker Andrea Arnold's Bird and also has a role lined up in the Peaky Blinders movie coming up.
The Louis Theroux Podcast is available now on Spotify.
You Might Like...
Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
