by Stephanie SoteriouBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffI’m an innately nosey and chronically online celebrity and pop culture journalist, with my specialist areas including deep-diving lyrics and calling out Terrible Men™.

As you probably saw, earlier this week, Barry Keoghan opened up about how hard it was for him to have social media users spread misinformation that he had cheated on Sabrina Carpenter.

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For reference, the two were first linked in December 2023, and went public at a Grammys afterparty in February 2024. In June of that same year, Sabrina made pretty iconic use out of being in a relationship with an Oscar-nominated actor by casting him as her boyfriend in her “Please Please Please” music video.

Needless to say, fans were obsessed with how Sabrina chose to platform their romance with a song that included sassy lyrics like: “I beg you don’t embarrass me, motherfucker,” and “If you wanna go and be stupid, don't do it in front of me / If you don't wanna cry to my music, don't make me hate you prolifically” — lyrics that didn’t age particularly well when the couple called time on their romance just six months later.

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At the time, it was widely speculated that Barry had cheated on Sabrina with influencer Breckie Hill. For what it’s worth, Breckie eventually shut down this speculation. In addition, a source vehemently denied the claims to People magazine, saying: "He was always very faithful to her from the start. There was no third party involved in their break or at any other point in their relationship. Reports indicating otherwise are entirely fabricated."

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Despite this, Barry faced an onslaught of cruel comments across social media, with the negativity becoming so bad that he ended up deleting his Instagram account after issuing a statement about the "hate" he was receiving at the time. In addition to unfounded claims that he is a “deadbeat dad” to his young son, Barry was also viciously targeted for his physical appearance.

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And now, Barry has opened up some more about the impact that these nasty comments had on him. During a recent appearance on the Friends Keep Secrets podcast, the 33-year-old star said: “I came off Instagram and social profiles. I’ve stopped going to events. I've stopped, you know, just, socializing. It's because, you know, 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, you know, I just disappeared."

Friends Keep Secrets / Via youtube.com

"I'm not asking for people to become my fan and like me, because that's not normal either," Barry went on. "But 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, involving my parents who are no longer with me...just absolutely disgusting and vile. There's videos on TikTok literally going: 'I hate him.'"

Friends Keep Secrets / Via youtube.com

And Barry’s latest comments have struck a chord with people, with many arguing that the reason he is unfairly targeted online is rooted in classism. A popular Reddit comment reads: “there's such an undertone of classism in all of it, I feel like. Like everything that is ‘suspect’ about him is what's working class. It's so disappointing to see someone with such a rough start in life [not go] through [the] UK's posh ass system of drama schools and actually make a career for himself, only for people to salivate at the idea of his downfall.”

Barry Keoghan says he left social media and stopped going to events because of false narrative of him cheating on Sabrina Carpenter

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If you need reminding, Barry has been open about his tough early start to life in Summerhill — one of the most deprived areas of Dublin, Ireland. His mom died from a heroin overdose when he was just 12 years old, and while little is known about his father, Barry previously revealed that he also died from a drug overdose.

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As a result, Barry and his younger brother, Eric, were taken into foster care when he was 5 years old. The brothers spent the next four years being moved around 13 different homes and seeing their mom under supervision on weekends. When he was 9, Barry’s grandmother and aunt managed to get him and Eric out of the foster system, and the two boys moved in with them and their older sister, Gemma, who gave up work to help look after her younger brothers — with all five family members living together in a two-bedroom house.

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Just last year, Barry revealed that he had also struggled with addiction, telling the Hollywood Authentic that his driver Niall had taken him to rehab after becoming concerned about his lifestyle.

Jamie Mccarthy

Barry Keoghan Classism Discourse Explained