Following his 2024 breakup with Carpenter, he accused some individuals of knocking on his grandmother’s door and “sitting outside my baby boy’s house, intimidating them.”
Keoghan acknowledged that stepping back from acting would disappoint his fans, but, referring to his three-year-old son Brando, added: “It’s also disappointing that my little boy will have to read all of this when he gets older.”
This isn’t the first time Keoghan has faced intense media scrutiny. After his role — including nude scenes — in Saltburn, attention uncomfortably turned to Keoghan’s body. Even actors and musicians unconnected to the project found themselves dragged into interviews: Andrew Scott was asked about the scene despite having no involvement in the film, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor was quizzed simply because her song featured in it.
It’s a stark reminder of how, for some reason, we feel entitled to every detail of Keoghan’s life, from his body to his relationship status.
For now, he hasn’t stepped away from acting. He most recently appeared in Netflix’s Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man and is rumoured to be returning as the Joker in Batman II, following a brief cameo in the first film.
What do we owe celebrities?
The theme of celebrity privacy has only grown in prominence in recent years. One notable voice on the topic is Chappell Roan, who has openly discussed the feeling of being hounded by the press. Most recently, she faced criticism from Jorginho after his wife, Catherine Harding, and stepdaughter were reportedly berated by Roan’s security for looking in her direction.
It raises a tricky question: what, if anything, do celebrities owe us? Or perhaps more importantly, what do we owe them?
My personal rule of thumb, as someone who writes about entertainment and occasionally interviews stars like Jennifer Garner, is to only approach them during work hours. When I ran into Charli XCX on the street, I didn’t say a word so she could pass by peacefully. When I saw Louisa Harland outside the screening of her new series, The Walsh Sisters, I felt it was appropriate to stop and compliment her performance.
If we don’t want to be bothered outside our own office hours, maybe we should extend the same courtesy. And as for messaging someone because they allegedly broke the heart of an adorable pop star? That’s probably… unnecessary.
Look, I’m a Swiftie through and through, and sure, some of her exes haven’t impressed me. But I’ll listen to the songs she wrote about them, shriek out the lyrics during karaoke, and apply them to my own exes. I won’t bother reaching out to anyone on social media, because, honestly, why would I? Keep it nice, or at least confined to a three-person group chat with a funny name, if you ask me.