'My name has been dragged across the internet.' Barry Keoghan has spoken.

It's a confusing time for people who ship Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter as a couple.

There's been a few months of whiplash after blind gossip items and relationship rumours came out suggesting the couple had split, but then all of a sudden the Saltburn actor started to share thirsty posts about the 'Espresso' singer on Instagram and out of the blue, their relationship went rather public.

And I'm ashamed to say I was obsessed with their PDA, particularly his declarations of lust for the tiny pop star.

Then suddenly this week, PEOPLE reported the couple have officially called it quits. And now, after a whirlwind of cheating allegations and rumours about their split, Keoghan has released a lengthy statement to defend himself.

Here's how we got here:

Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter have reportedly split.

Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan have apparently called it quits a day after their one-year anniversary.

A source has confirmed to PEOPLE that the pair have 'decided to take a break' and ended their romantic relationship for now.

"They are both young and career-focused, so they've decided to take a break," an insider said.

Neither of the star's reps responded to PEOPLE, though Keoghan did address the rumours in a statement on social media.

The cheating rumours around Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter.

On the internet, rumours have been circulating that Keoghan may have cheated on Carpenter. But these reports are just gossip at this stage.

In one blind item, DeuxMoi suggested the Irish actor had been unfaithful to his 'Taste' singer girlfriend.

"On the closing night of her biggest tour to date in LA, he was busy getting very cosy [sic] at San Vincente Bungalows with a blonde, semi-famous LA-based influencer (who's particularly big on Tiktok)," the item read.

"I snooped around a bit out of curiosity and apparently he and his pop star girlfriend called it quits very suddenly less than a week before her final shows in LA after she found out he had been chatting with said influencer behind her back for months in a not-innocent-at-all way."

The person who submitted the blind item went on to allege that the mystery woman had "gone to find" Keoghan in the UK while he was filming because she was "eager to keep him company".

As the internet does, sleuths quickly decided they knew exactly who this was… based on a very vague description that could match loads of women. Sounds fake but okay!

According to the internet, this woman had to be Breckie Hill who is blonde (tick!), an influencer with 4 million followers on TikTok (tick!) and lives in LA (tick!).

But to add to the intrigue, Breckie has been reposting speculation that she is the woman in question.

@foundsheyou

Trouble in paradise with Sabrina Carpenter and Barry @Team Sabrina @Sabrina Carpenter @Barry Keoghan @Breckie Hill #sabrinacarpenter #sabrinacarpenteredit #holidays #couple #barrykeoghan #breckiehill #pleasepleaseplease #shortnsweet #bedchem

♬ Please Please Please - Sabrina Carpenter

Many assume that by reposting the above video, the influencer is confirming the rumour is true, but it could also just be her having a laugh at how unhinged the internet can be… and nabbing herself a huge follower boost in the meantime.

Either way, the lyrics from 'Please, Please, Please' come to mind: "Heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another. I beg you, don't embarrass me, motherf*cker."

Given every other 'blind item' was proven to be false in the past, we're holding absolutely no stock in this claim.

Barry Keoghan addresses the rumours about him.

As the rumours of infidelity spread across the internet, Keoghan deactivated his Instagram. Shortly thereafter, the usually private actor posted a statement on on X (formerly Twitter) condemning the "absolute lies" being spread about him in his breakup with Carpenter.

"I can only sit and take so much. My name has been dragged across the internet in ways I usually don't respond to," he wrote.

He went on to criticise the "disgusting commentary" that he has received about his appearance and his personal life and reiterated that "no person should ever have to read them".

Please be respectful
x pic.twitter.com/N03eHAIbC8

— Barry Keoghan (@BarryKeoghan) December 7, 2024

Asking that people "please be respectful", Keoghan called out critiques of his character, rumours of drug use, and "every other inhumane thing you can imagine".

It was the comments made about him as a father, however, that Keoghan took particular issue with. Condemning the criticism, he reminded readers that his son, Brando, will one day grow up and read everything about his father on the internet.

"Sitting outside my baby boys house intimidating them. That's crossing a line. Each and every day I work harder to push myself on every level to be the healthiest and strongest person for that boy," the statement read.

"I need you to remember he has to read ALL of this about his father when he is older. Please be respectful to all. Thank u x."

Of course, it wasn't always like this…

Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter's relationship timeline.

Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter's relationship began in October in 2023 when they first met at Paris Fashion Week. By December, they were going on dates in Los Angeles.

In February, they attended a Grammy Awards afterparty but posed separately on the red carpet and then in March, they were photographed together covering their faces at an Oscars afterparty. In April, Barry was spotted in the audience of the singer's Coachella set.

It wasn't until May that the couple went official: they attended the 2024 Met Gala together, where they finally blessed us with a couple's photo.

Since then, Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter's relationship has heated up as Keoghan made a memorable cameo in Carpenter's 'Please Please Please' music video, a song about the former Disney star dating an actor.

Listen to The Spill's hosts breakdown Sabrina Carpenter's music video. Post continues after video.

This brings us to last month, when breakup rumours started to surface. According to one report, they hadn't broken up because they were never an actual item.

A source told PEOPLE that Carpenter and Keoghan were "on and off," as they were keeping it casual.

But this hasn't stopped Barry from stirring the pot by dropping thirsty comments on Instagram about his rumoured girlfriend.

Barry Keoghan was all loved-up in Sabrina Carpenter's Instagram comments.

The sweet gestures began back in March as Carpenter and Keoghan attended the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty. In zoomed-in photos, Barry was seen wearing a ‘Sabrina' friendship bracelet.

Then in April when the 'Nonsense' singer shared pics of her rocking various lingerie and loungewear for Kim Kardashian's Skims campaign, Keoghan commented a bunch of emojis and wrote "barbie emoji."

Keoghan loves an emoji moment. On a video of Carpenter performing at Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in Sydney, Keoghan left a queen emoji.

Following the breakup rumours in August, Keoghan liked a post of Carpenter wearing baby-blue lingerie.

After the singer released her album Short N' Sweet, Carpenter announced a bonus single 'Busy Woman' on Instagram which prompted Barry to add "Lets feckin go!!" which Carpenter liked.

Then came Keoghan's most public gesture to date: he just posted an Instagram Story to reveal his favourite song on Sabrina's new album release. "Bed chem is my fave, just saying m'darling," he wrote.

Okay, I'm blushing over his use of 'm'darling', that's a bit cute. I would fall to my knees in the middle of the train station if someone left me that message.

Barry has zero chill. Image: Instagram/@keoghan92.

This isn't a random fave as the song 'Bed Chem' is rumoured to be about Sabrina and Barry's relationship, as she sings "Who's the cute boy with the white jacket and the thick accent?", which sounds a lot like a description of the Irish actor on the night they met.

Sabrina Carpenter's adoration of Barry Keoghan.

Unlike ol' Baza, Sabrina isn't quite as public about her affections on Instagram. But in interviews, she's shared a little about their relationship.

In a June interview with Rolling Stone, when she was asked if she refers to the actor as her boyfriend, she replied, "How do I skirt around this question?" She went on to vaguely state that, "The [dating] pool is the pool, and when you meet people that feel authentic and are so brilliant and amazing in every way, that's what you do."

In August, she spoke about her decision to cast Keoghan as her leading man in her 'Please Please Please' music video.

"He loved the song. He's obsessed with the lyrics, and I'm so grateful for that," she told Variety. "I don't want to sound biased, but I think he's one of the best actors of this generation. So getting to see him on the screen with my song as the soundtrack made the video better and all the more special."

She joked about Keoghan's zodiac sign which is the same as one of her sisters."Barry's a Libra, and so is my sister. They're very different, but they have similarities. I tend to gravitate towards Leos as well," Carpenter said.

Barry and Sabrina's public romance is a hot topic. Image: Getty.

In an interview with the Guardian last month, the ‘Taste' songstress teased the journalist when he mentioned Keoghan. "Get that last question in, baby!" she said. Sabrina went on to say that working with him was "one of the best experiences I've ever had. I'm very honoured and I got to work with such a great actor!"

The journalist noted that Sabrina screwed up her face at such a diplomatic response, as she mocked herself by repeating "Such a great actor!"

She admitted that while the public wanting access to her personal life was "not what I signed up for," she could accept that it was just a sign of the times.

"I want to be honest – I want to just write about what's happening in my life as a 25-year-old girl. But it comes with the territory and I just have to be like … OK!"

Feature image: Getty.

This article was originally published on September 4, 2024 and has since been updated with new information.