Barry Keoghan Steps Back from Public Life Over Online Abuse

Barry Keoghan, the 33-year-old Irish actor known for roles in "Saltburn" and "The Banshees of Inisherin," revealed on Friday's episode of SiriusXM's "The Morning Mash Up" that intense online harassment has prompted him to withdraw from public life and reconsider his acting career.

Keoghan described the abuse, much of which targets his appearance, as overwhelming and persistent. "There's a lot of hate online. It's a lot of abuse of how I look," he said, adding that while he has tried to disconnect from social media, his curiosity draws him back to check reactions to events he attends. "And it's not nice," he continued. The criticism has led him to avoid public outings altogether. "It's made me shy away. It's made me really go inside myself and not want to attend places, not want to go outside," Keoghan explained. He emphasized that the issue has escalated to the point where it interferes with his professional life. "When that starts leaking into your art, it becomes a problem because then you don't even want to be on screen anymore," he stated.

The actor linked much of the backlash to his high-profile breakup with singer Sabrina Carpenter in December 2024, after a year of dating...