Sabrina Carpenter sings, “Heartbreak is one thing, my ego’s another, I beg you don’t embarrass me…” – and Barry Keoghan may have just found himself in the centre of both. On 3 December, it was reported that celebrity power couple Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan had “decided to take a break” after a year together. As with all high-profile breakups, the internet was quick to speculate. Many believing that Keoghan cheated. But is that really our business?

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Imagine if your heartbreak made headlines. Strangers analysing your pain

The online frenzy surrounding the breakup reached its peak when Keoghan was hit with a wave of backlash online. Allegations of cheating led to widespread harassment, and the actor eventually deactivated his Instagram account. He addressed the situation on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Absolute lies, hatred, disgusting commentary about my appearance, character, how I am as a parent, and every other inhumane thing you can imagine. Dragging my character and everything I worked extremely hard for and stand for.”

I’ll admit, I’m not innocent here. I love celebrity drama as much as anyone. There’s something oddly addictive about watching lives, that seem so far removed from our own, unfold. But there’s a difference between privately speculating with your friends and participating in a public hate campaign. Imagine if your heartbreak made headlines. Strangers analysing your pain, and making snap judgements based on rumours. It’s easy to get caught up in the allure of tabloid culture, but at the end of the day, we don’t know the full story – and maybe we shouldn’t.

Social media has only amplified the entitlement we feel towards celebrities’ personal lives. This isn’t a new phenomenon. My mind goes back to 2013 when Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder – stars of The Vampire Diaries – ended their relationship. Fans of the show were devastated, and they decided to take their devastation out onto who fans believed to be the cause of the breakup: Somerhalder’s new girlfriend, actress Nikki Reed. Somerhalder and Reed eventually got married, and to this day, Reed faces harassment from fans who can’t let go of the past.

This kind of scrutiny has forced many celebrities to protect their relationships by keeping them private. Take Suki Waterhouse and Robert Pattinson. Their relationship remained largely under the radar; I quite literally gasped when they pictured together at the 2023 Met Gala. It’s refreshing to see their love reserved for themselves rather than put on display for public consumption. But should celebrities have to hide their relationships to avoid harassment? It’s a question worth considering. Yes, fame comes with a certain loss of privacy, but does it come with a licence for cruelty?

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Would you want your heartbreak to trend?

Ultimately, we need to ask ourselves: why do we feel so entitled to the details of a celebrity’s private life? Is it because their lives feel like extensions of the characters they play or the songs they sing? Is it because we assume their wealth and status make them immune to pain? Behind every headline is a person – someone navigating heartbreak, joy, and vulnerability just like the rest of us. Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan’s relationship is theirs to process, not ours to dissect. Next time you’re tempted to engage in online gossip, ask yourself: would you want your heartbreak to trend?

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