Barry Keoghan Reacts to 'Deadbeat Dad' Claims, Explains Why He Doesn't Post His Son on Social Media
Barry Keoghan is responding to claims that he’s a “deadbeat dad” after his recent comments on fatherhood went viral.
The 31-year-old Saltburn actor appeared on a recent episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast and was asked about the accusations that have portrayed him as a “deadbeat” father.
Barry responded and also explained why he rarely posts on social media about being a father.
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“There’s a lot online. If I didn’t have tough skin or the strength to have, I wouldn’t be sitting here,” Barry said. “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. But it’s just, again, people love to use my son as ammunition or whatever.”
Barry continued, “And it kind of leads me to stop, the more attention I’ve [gotten] 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. And because I reigned that in, people draw a narrative and go, ‘Absent father, s—, deadbeat dad,’ and more disgusting things I wouldn’t even repeat. Just the audacity of some people, man. It sickens me, makes me furious.”
The host told Barry to stop looking at social media comments, but he explained why he sometimes still does that.
“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 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.”
Barry shares his son with ex Alyson Sandro and he opened up about their relationship in an interview earlier this year.