Barry Keoghan Reacts to Accusations Hes a Deadbeat Dad
Barry Keoghan is addressing charges that he’s a “deadbeat dad.” The Saltburn actor, 32, addressed up about internet trolls who insult him as a dad to his 2-year-old son, Brando, during a September visit on “The Louis Theroux Podcast.”
“There’s a lot online. If I didn’t have strong skin or the strength, I wouldn’t be sitting here,” Keoghan told host Louis Theroux. “Of course, his childhood is going to affect me being a father when I had no blueprint to take from. People simply see it as laziness and think, ‘Oh, that’s no reason to be an absent father.’ I’m not an absent father.”
Keoghan – who has son Brando with ex Alyson Sandro – was likely alluding to statements he made during an interview with Entertainment Weekly in September, in which he talked about his bond with his son while promoting his new picture, Bird.
He said, “But it’s just, again, people love to use my son as ammunition or whatever. And it sort of drives me to stop, the more attention I’ve received lately and the more in the public I’ve become, the less I’ve blogged about my child, because I don’t believe it’s fair to put my child online. And since I reigned that in, people build a narrative and go, ‘Absent father, s—, deadbeat dad,’ and other horrible words I wouldn’t even mention. Just the arrogance of some people, dude. It sickens me, makes me furious.”
Though Theroux informed the actor that he didn’t want to “state the obvious,” he encouraged him “not to look at comments” from people online, which prompted Keoghan to disclose why he occasionally reads what’s being written about him.
Noting that he stays off the internet when he’s getting into character for a role, Keoghan explained, “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.”
He said, “I’ve even blocked out certain words because I don’t want to read that. Stuff like my son - people don’t deserve to say it in a sentence, anything. I’m simply trying to make a livelihood, trying to establish a good body of work and create safety for my child.”
Keoghan and Sandro, 33, had their kid in August 2022. The now-exes met in early 2021 before calling it quits in summer 2023.
The Golden Globe nominee has now moved on with singer Sabrina Carpenter. The two initially ignited relationship speculations in December last year as images of the duo out and about in Los Angeles made the rounds.
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An insider later informed Us Weekly that the duo had been dating since at least January.
“They really took things slow at first, but the relationship is going strong,” the insider exclusively told Us in March. “They are both very casual people and enjoy being low-key in their downtime. They aren’t putting too much pressure on things, and Sabrina loves that Barry recognizes she is so busy with her professional responsibilities right now.”
One of those professional obligations was Carpenter, 25, opening for Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour earlier this year. Keoghan cheered the former Disney star on at multiple gigs in Singapore in March.
“Sabrina loves that he has been making the effort to support her at her shows and it has given them a chance to spend time together during this busy season,” the insider added. “He is a total fan of hers and she thinks it’s really cute.”
The “Louis Theroux Podcast” is available on Spotify now.