Penn Badgely's wife Domino Kirke hits back at claims she was behind his sex scene ban

Domino Kirke has told fans to 'get over' her husband's decision to stop filming intimate scenes in his acting work.

Kirke is married to Penn Badgley, best known for his roles in Gossip Girl and hit Netflix series You, who made headlines in 2023 when he announced that it was no longer his desire to film sexual scenes.

Three years on from Badgley's request, Kirke has taken to social media to deny longstanding rumours that she'd asked the 38-year-old to stop picking roles which involved getting hot and heavy.

"I continue to get DMs about this thing where my husband decided he didn't want to do intimate scenes anymore," Kirke said in a video on Instagram. "Meaning that he didn't want to have sex, he didn't want to kiss, which was really major in his industry because that’s the thing they want you to do the most.

"And with the characters my husband has played over the years, people expect that he will continue to play that guy."

Kirke went on to explain that she'd been supportive of Badgley's decision to set boundaries in his work, adding: "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 [to] get over it."

The singer and doula went on to further explain her point of view in the video's caption, saying that Badgley's decision was for his 'mental health reasons'.

"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," she said.

Kirke went on to say that 'relational hygiene and mental health' is a topic which is underdiscussed in both the caregiving and entertainment fields, adding: "Entertainers, birth professionals, and caregivers bleed to create so much for others, and then they’re expected to go home and show up for their own lives and families as though nothing happened."

What did Penn Badgley say about no longer wanting to perform intimate scenes?

Addressing his decision on his podcast Podcrushed back in 2023, Badgley explained that he'd broached the topic with You creator Sera Gamble ahead of season four.

"I asked Sera Gamble, 'Can I just do no more intimacy scenes?'" he said. "This is actually a decision I had made before I took the show. I don't think I had ever mentioned it publicly, but one of the main things is like, do I want to put myself back in a career path where I'm just always a romantic lead?

"Fidelity in every relationship, including my marriage, is important to me. It's got to the point where I don't want to do that."

The actor went on to acknowledge that since he'd already signed on to play Joe Goldberg in the thriller series, which ended in 2025, it would be difficult to cut out intimacy entirely due to the nature of the show; instead, he wanted to cut back where possible.

"So how much less can you make it, was my question to them."