Barry Keoghan Responds To All Those "Deadbeat Dad" Comments

Barry Keoghan has seen what the internet’s been saying about him. After months of comments about the actor’s personal life, Keoghan finally responded to the gossip that he’s an “absent father.” And his reply is anything but short and sweet.

Ever since Keoghan began dating Sabrina Carpenter in late 2023, he’s been trolled online about his family — namely, his two-year-old son Brando whom the actor rarely mentions or posts about. Because Keoghan hasn’t been seen with his son very often, a section of the internet has labeled him a “deadbeat dad,” assuming that he is more focused on his relationship with Carpenter than his role as a father.

“People kind of have a judgment on me as a parent,” Keoghan said on the Nov. 4 episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast. “There's a lot online. If I didn't have tough skin or the strength I have, I wouldn't be sitting here. And people just read that laziness and go, ‘Oh, that's no excuse to be an absent father.’ I'm not an absent father.”

“People love to use my son as kind of ammunition,” Keoghan said. “The more tension I've got 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've arranged that, people draw a narrative and go, ‘Absent father. Sh*t, deadbeat dad.’ ... Just the audacity of some people, man. It sickens me more than it makes me furious.

Keoghan co-parents Brando with his ex-girlfriend, Alyson Kierans. Keoghan and Kierans began dating in 2021, and welcomed their son in August 2022. The couple broke up in the middle of 2023.

Keoghan shared a rare selfie with his son around Brando’s second birthday a few months back. “He’s more of a charmer than I am,” the actor captioned the adorable pic.