Barry Keoghan has finally addressed the untrue rumors that he cheated on his ex-girlfriend Sabrina Carpenter with a social media influencer.
The Irish actor stepped back from the spotlight after the split from the pop star in December 2024, following a year of dating. Barry, 33, has strongly denied any infidelity, and now he’s opening up about the impact of those baseless claims.
Speaking on Benny Blanco’s Friends Keep Secrets podcast, Barry explained why he went quiet on social media and avoided public events. “I came off Instagram, all my social profiles. I stopped going to events, socializing,” he shared. “It’s because there was a narrative out there that’s not true. I never confirmed or said anything about it, so I just disappeared.”
Co-host Lil Dicky directly asked if it was about cheating, and Barry confirmed, “That I cheated, yeah.” He added that he didn’t want to involve others but noted how relationships in the public eye get amplified. “You see the narrative, a girl made a video and then a girl made the same video and said sorry for making that up but no one seemed to latch on to that video.”
Barry referenced a video from influencer Breckie Hill, who denied any involvement and stated she had never met him. “I have never encountered this man in my life. The only time I’ve ever seen him is on my TV screen from watching Saltburn,” she said.
The couple first connected in September 2023 and went public romantically that December. Their relationship seemed strong at times, with Barry appearing in Sabrina’s “Please Please Please” music video and joining her at the 2024 Met Gala.
However, reports later suggested they were on-and-off before calling it quits. Fans have speculated that Barry inspired tracks on Sabrina’s album Man’s Best Friend, often described as a heartfelt project about moving on. Sabrina, who turns 25 this year, has kept things light when discussing her single life, telling Rolling Stone she’s simply enjoying being in her mid-20s.
She has also touched on the difficulties of dating under public scrutiny: “People underestimate how tricky it is to navigate being a young woman, having relationships, and then having a bunch of strangers have opinions on them.”