Domino Kirke-Badgley is setting the record straight regarding a long-standing internet narrative surrounding her husband, You and Gossip Girl actor Penn Badgley.
For years, rumors circulated across social media suggesting that Kirke had requested or pressured Badgley to stop filming explicit sex scenes for his television roles. The speculation reignited after Badgley appeared on a February 2023 episode of his podcast, Podcrushed, where he explained his personal choice to request fewer intimate scenes in later seasons of Netflix’s hit thriller You.
“Do I want to put myself back on a career path where I’m always [the] romantic lead?…Fidelity in every relationship — especially in a marriage — is important to me,” Badgley explained at the time.
Now, Kirke is formally shutting down claims that she orchestrated her husband’s career boundaries, clarifying that Badgley made the decision independently to protect his own mental health after decades in the entertainment industry.
“A few years ago, the internet decided I’d asked my husband to stop doing sex scenes. The truth is, my husband decided to do this for mental health reasons,” Kirke shared in a candid statement. “After working in the industry since he was just 12 years old, believe me, it was time.”
Drawling parallels between entertainment and her professional background, Kirke explained the underlying psychological toll that acting from a young age can take on an individual’s sense of self-advocacy.
“In the entertainment world, they call actors ‘puppets’ behind their backs, and it’s even more disturbing when they start out as child actors,” Kirke noted. “Hi, I’m Domino, and I’ve been a birth professional for 17 years. In my work I see a LOT of similar patterns to those in the entertainment world. Caregivers are so ready to be invisible, collapse, disappear, or take direction no matter what. They’re constantly allowing folks to blaze past their boundaries all in the spirit of being accommodating or in my husband’s case, entertaining. They’re ok with being forgettable.”
She continued: “Sometimes I ask people what their doula’s name was and they’re like ‘oh I don’t remember!’ So finally, after years of trying, Penn decided to take a stand and let the world see him. And guess what, he hasn’t lost fans and he’s still getting hired!”
Addressing ongoing social media messages from spectators who continue to question the couple’s relationship dynamic, Kirke offered a direct conclusion: “So yeah, I want to say to those of you who still DM me about my husband deciding to do this for himself and his mental health, like get over it.”
