Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | October 28, 2026
Celebrities undergoing "procedures" is as commonplace as holes in socks. So, the news that Barry Keoghan, the future Ringo Starr, had received a "skin-tightening" treatment wasn't exactly a surprise. But it did leave us feeling pretty melancholic, if we're being honest.
A few months ago, Keoghan admitted that he was finding it tough to be in the public eye. Trolling comments over his appearance had left him feeling deeply insecure and, at times, reluctant to leave the house. "If I attend an event, or if I go somewhere, [I] want to see how it was received, and it's not nice," he said. "It's made me shy away, it's made me really go inside myself and not want to attend places, not want to go outside."
It's a pretty rotten state of affairs for any star, and something that is wearily to be expected, but the comments about Keoghan's appearance have been notably virulent. Really, I would argue that he's the most physically scrutinized man in the business right now. His face is always called "funny" or "ugly" and mocked as too unattractive for Hollywood. The fans of his ex, Sabrina Carpenter, have been especially harsh. There's little appreciation for his unique features or how they've aided him in being one of his generation's most intriguing performers. And clearly the pressure has gotten to him. It would get to all of us.
An Instagram video of Keoghan receiving something called Xerf skin tightening treatment popped up on the feed of Nilam Holmes, who runs a dermaspa in England. The procedure, which is non-invasive, apparently uses "radio frequency technology" to renew collagen in the face. The video isn't marked as sponcon but it does play like it. "I feel better about myself; I look better," says Keoghan in the video.
Keoghan has apparently been seeing Holmes for a while now, so I don't think this was him suddenly deciding to get some non-invasive work done to spite all the trolls. You'd be hard pressed to find a celebrity who wasn't getting lasers fired at their faces or weirdly-named treatments done on a regular basis. If you had to be on camera all the time and knew your employability was dependent on erasing all your pores, you'd do it too. You've only got one face and a short life to look after it, so do what thou wilt.
But I cannot help but feel bad for Keoghan, and think of how the endless cycle of mockery and treatment that we've found ourselves in can only end poorly. The online responses to this news have largely been derisive, because bullies are never satisfied. Stay natural and be bullied or get work done and be laughed at for giving in. What a choice, right?
I hear a lot of people dismiss empathy towards Keoghan by saying that this is some act of rebalancing the scales. Women are treated far more harshly than men for how they look, so why should we care about one guy who feels bad about being bullied for his appearance? I wonder if these people hear themselves when they talk. Call me old-fashioned but I don't think it's a sign of feminism to be as nasty and callous towards men as they are to us. Mocking Barry Keoghan's looks isn't going to fix how we're torn to shreds by a patriarchal system that demands impossible beauty standards.
Also, can we admit that classism is probably playing a big part in this? Keoghan is a working-class Irish kid who grew up in in the foster system. He doesn't "look like a movie-star" because he wasn't born in the narrow space where the nepo babies and rich kids are trained from birth to become palatably famous. Honestly, he looks a lot like many guys I know from Scottish and Irish working-class neighbourhoods. Why would you want him to change all of that, to erase the uniqueness of his roots and appeal, just so he can look like everyone else? Aren't we all sick of the same tight faces anyway? If I see one more beloved and distinctive performer turn up with wide eyes from an upper bleph lift they didn't need, I will go mad.
I swear, if any of you weirdos bully Keoghan, or anyone, into going under the knife, I will haunt you myself. Don't think I won't.
