Barry Keoghan addresses claims he cheated on ex Sabrina Carpenter

For a fleeting moment, they were Hollywood's favourite baby-faced power couple.

But much to the dismay of their respective fans, Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan's romance seemed to end almost as quickly as it began - and it didn't take long for fingers to be pointed at the Saltburn actor.

Given the chart-topping diss tracks that Carpenter released after their split first hit headlines, gossip fans quickly sussed that Keoghan, 33, must have been playing away behind the musician's back.

It was even alleged that he'd been secretly involved with influencer Breckie Hill - despite Carpenter never having made any such allegation herself.

Having now faced criticism over their December 2024 break-up for over a year, Irish film star Keoghan this week had his say, insisting he was never unfaithful to the 'Espresso' hit-maker.

The couple split in December 2024 (Dave Benett/VF24/WireImage for Vanity Fair)

Appearing on Benny Blanco's Friends Keep Secrets podcast on 28 Apr, Keoghan admitted that the backlash he received spurred him to retreat from public view for a time, including deactivating his social media accounts.

"I can only sit and take so much," he claimed. "It's because there's a narrative out there that was never really even spoken on — a narrative that's not true, and I never confirmed or said anything about it.

"You know, I just disappeared."

The Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man actor added: "Unfortunately, having a relationship in the public eye, we all know this from our own stories, but it gets put out there, and it's like ... yeah, amplified."

Addressing rumours that he'd played away with Hill, Keoghan insisted that 'a girl made a video' claiming she'd been intimate with him - a claim she later retracted in a follow-up social media statement.

Barry slammed the backlash he faced as 'vile' (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

He added that most people only saw the first video, however, fuelling cheating rumours.

"It's a hard one, because I never want to speak on behalf of other people," the father-of-one explained. "And I also never want to mention other people or involve them. And even if it is those people that I was in a relationship with, it's not my place ...

"And it's not their place to come forward and speak on my behalf."

Keoghan branded the trolling he received as a result of the claims 'absolutely disgusting' and 'vile', claiming some critics made threats against his family.

"I'm not asking people to become my fan or like me," he insisted. "I'm asking for people to stop assuming, and also stop jumping on this narrative and attacking me, and dragging me down in any way you can."