Penn Badgley’s wife says she’s not the reason he stopped doing sex scenes
Penn Badgley’s wife Domino said she’s not the reason he quit sex scenes (Getty Images)
Domino Kirke-Badgley has denied she asked husband Penn Badgley to stop filming sex scenes, telling people who keep messaging her about it to “get over it”.
Speaking to camera in an Instagram post on 28 September, Kirke-Badgley said she is still receiving DMs about Badgley’s stance and speculation that she pushed him into it. She made it clear it was his own boundary, made “for himself and his mental health”.
“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,” she said.
Kirke-Badgley also pushed back on the idea that Badgley’s public comments came first, saying he spoke about it after he had already decided not to do intimate scenes.
“Meaning, he didn’t want to have sex. He didn’t want to. Yes, he didn’t want to do any of that, which was really major in his industry because that’s the thing they like you to do the most,” she said.
What did Domino Kirke-Badgley say about the decision?
Kirke-Badgley, 42, said audiences can cling to an actor’s “type”, adding that “people have come to expect” Badgley to keep playing the same kind of character.
She said she was “super happy” and “very proud” of him for making what she described as a “major” decision, and referenced the impact it had on their relationship’s “hygiene”.
In the caption, she linked the choice to the length of Badgley’s career: “After working in the industry since he was just 12 years old, believe me, it was time.”
Kirke-Badgley also criticised the way the entertainment industry treats performers, writing: “In the entertainment world, they call actors ‘puppets’ behind their backs, and it’s even more disturbing when they start as child actors,” before adding that Badgley “decided to take a stand” and “he hasn’t lost fans and he’s still getting hired”.
What has Penn Badgley said about sex scenes?
Badgley, 39, previously discussed limiting intimate scenes for the fourth season of Netflix smash You on his podcast Podcrushed in February 2023, asking: “Do I want to put myself back on a career path where I’m always [the] romantic lead?”
He also said: “Fidelity in every relationship especially in a marriage is important to me,” referring to his marriage to Kirke-Badgley, whom he married in February 2017.
Badgley is best known for playing Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl and Joe Goldberg in Netflix thriller You.
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