Barry Keoghan Addresses Cheating Rumors Amid Public Retreat

has finally spoken out on claims he cheated on Sabrina Carpenter and said it is the reason why he has retreated from the spotlight. 

The actor, 33, denied he ever cheated on pop star Sabrina, 26, who he broke up with in December 2024 after a year of dating. 

The star was soon  - which turned out to be Breckie Hill - after a blind item was sent to gossip site DeuxMoi. 

Barry appeared on 's Friends Keep Secrets podcast and told how he retreated from public view due to overwhelming backlash online.    

He said: 'I came off Instagram, social profiles. I stopped going to events, socialising. 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.'

Rapper and co-host of the podcast Lil Dicky asked: 'Is it something about cheating?'

'That I cheated, yeah,' Barry said. 'I don't want to ever bring anyone else into it but unfortunately, having a relationship in the public eye, it's 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 seem to latch on to that video.'

Barry was referring to a video Breckie uploaded where she denied the cheating rumours and said she and Barry had never met.

'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.   

Sabrina and Barry were first linked back in early December of 2023.

The couple had met just a few months earlier, in September. The Espresso singer attended a screening of Saltburn earlier in the month, which may have prepared her for their official meeting at the Givenchy runway show at Paris Fashion Week.

Sabrina and Barry's relationship heated up to the point that he even starred with her in the music video for her single Please Please Please.

But there were hints of trouble between Sabrina and Barry when a source claimed to People in August that the couple's relationship was 'on and off.'

Barry was later hit with rumours of infidelity, though an insider told Us Weekly he was ‘very devoted to her happiness,’ adding that they were simply ‘at different places in their lives.’ 

The source said the relationship became difficult as Carpenter’s career exploded, noting she was being pulled in ‘so many directions’ and had little time to maintain a relationship.

Sabrina's hit single Manchild is widely believed to have been written about Barry after their break-up.

Barry previously had long-term relationships with Shona Guerin (from 2017 to 2020) and Alyson Kierans (from 2021 to 2023).

He and Kierans welcomed a son named Brando in 2022.

Sabrina previously had a high-profile romance with the Disney Channel actor Joshua Bassett from 2020 to 2021, and she was linked to singer Shawn Mendes early last year.