Barry Keoghan opens up about the effects of 'online abuse' on his wellbeing | indy100

Barry Keoghan praises Jessie Buckley after Oscars win

The Independent

Barry Keoghan has spoken candidly about the "nasty" side of social media, revealing how online trolling has personally impacted him.

On Friday (20 March), the Peaky Blinders star joined SiriusXM’s The Morning Mash Up with Ben Harlum, where the conversation shifted to his life in the public eye.

While he expressed gratitude for his fans and the Q&A interactions, he also pointed out the "nasty side" of it – particularly the "online hate".

"I think I removed myself from online, but I'm still a curious human being that wants to go on and, if I attend an event or if I go somewhere, you want to see how it was received. And it's not nice," he shared. "There's a lot of hate online. It's a lot of abuse of how I look."

He said the comments have forced him to "shy away," adding that: "It's made me really go inside myself, not want to attend places, not want to go outside."

Keoghan, who previously dated Sabrina Carpenter, admitted to host Harlum that "it's becoming a problem".

"So yeah, I don't have to hide away because I am hiding away. I don't have to go to places because I actually don't go to places because of these things. But when that starts leaking into your art, it becomes a problem because then you don't even want to be on screen anymore," he candidly confessed.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Fans soon jumped in to defend the star, with one writing: "He’s a real person with feelings, people lol just bc he no longer dates their 'fav' they think it’s okay to attack his physical appearance."

Another penned: "Good God, we need to stop being so horrendous to one another."

Meanwhile, a third shared: "Making fun of being cruel about people’s looks is childish, cheap, and just yuck."

You should also read...

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.