Barry Keoghan hits back at ‘deadbeat dad’ claims and denies he’s an ‘absent father’

‘People love to use my son as ammunition,’ the actor said

Barry Keoghan has his out at internet speculation about his parenting skills.

The Banshees of Inisherin star, 32, welcomed his son Brando with his former partner Alyson in August 2022. He is now reportedly dating the 25-year-old pop star Sabrina Carpenter.

Keoghan, whose credits include The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Saltburn, has regularly been accused by social media users of being a “deadbeat dad” for not “spending time” with his son.

Speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast, Keoghan addressed the rumours and criticised trolls for making assumptions about his family life.

“If I didn’t have tough skin or the strength to have, I wouldn’t be sitting here,” he said, referencing his own upbringing in foster care and losing his mother to drug addiction.

“Of course, [my childhood] is going to affect me being a father when I had no blueprint to take from,” Keoghan claimed.

“People just read that [as laziness and go, ‘Oh, that’s no excuse to be an absent father.’

“I’m not an absent father,” he added. “But it’s just, again, people love to use my son as ammunition or whatever.”

The Irish star said that the more public attention he’s received, the less he has wanted to post his child on social media. “I don’t think it’s fair to put my child online,” he said.

“And because I reigned that in, people draw a narrative and go ‘absent father, shit, deadbeat dad,’ and more disgusting things I wouldn’t even repeat,” he said. “Just the audacity of some people, man. It sickens me, makes me furious.”

Keoghan’s mother passed away when he was 12. He then spent seven years in foster care, moving between 13 different homes, before being raised by his grandmother, aunt and sister Gemma.

“My mum, she was lovely. She was gorgeous, almost like six-foot, dark hair, just beautiful,” he said. “Like every lad was chasing her and this thing caught her [addiction] like many families.”

Barry Keoghan in Sabrina Carpenter’s music video for ‘Please Please Please' (Island Records)

The actor continued: “It’s sad to see the deterioration of people around the area and see people struggle with it and the recovery they’re in now. It caught my mum, it caught my uncle who died of it and caught my father as well. She was just unable to look after us.”

The star, who will next be seen in Andrea Arnold’s Bird, explained of his time in foster care: “My father wasn’t there so we got taken into care and no one knew about this. I think she was too embarrassed to tell my granny so no one knew that’s when we went through all that. All the different homes.”

Admitting his childhood still affects him, Keoghan added: “That kind of haunts me still, you don’t forget those things.

Keoghan in ‘Banshees of Inisherin’ (Searchlight)

“You don’t forget waiting on social worker steps and waiting for the new family to come and play with you in the playgrounds they have in the office and see if it’s going to work and then go with them to a whole new area and a whole new home.”

Referencing his mother’s addiction, the star concluded: “I don’t blame her. It’s a sickness.”

If you or someone you know is suffering from drug addiction, you can seek confidential help and support 24-7 from Frank, by calling 0300 123 6600, texting 82111, sending an email or visiting their website here.

In the US, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP