Penn Badgley Does Not Want You Thirsting Over His Problematic Character In 'You'

Source: USA Today

Formerly Lifetime’s dramatic thriller ‘You’ has found an entirely new fan base on Netflix. While doing the promo for the show when it was set to premiere on the women’s entertainment network Penn Badgley set the record straight — you should not be romanticizing Joe Goldberg’s troubling behavior.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s happening.

In case you haven’t seen the hit show, Penn Badgley plays Joe Goldberg, a murderous bookworm with a rocky past that ends up stalking a gorgeous blonde named Beck that he saw shopping at the book store he manages. Without spoiling the series that’s based on a book, let’s just say things don’t go well for anyone involved.

Between Joe’s oddly attractive desire to look out for Beck’s well-being and Penn’s handsome looks — fans all over are swooning over a character you should definitely call the police on should you ever encounter in real life.

I see that—hope I didn’t accidentally drag you… but look what a response this is getting. People wanna talk about problematic/interesting dimensions of the show which is a positive thing. Thanks for being a part of this process 🙂 https://t.co/QZIGMD1Om7

— Penn Badgley (@PennBadgley) January 10, 2019

The ‘Gossip Girl’ actor made it very clear that he does not want anyone to think Joe Goldberg is boyfriend goals.

He predicted this exact obsession that’s happening with his problematic role to E! News.

“”Yeah, but he loves her, but he’s sweet, but it’s a love story!’ In what world?! I don’t believe that’s love. I don’t think that love equals this, so I think we have to question, what is love, and if we think this is love, where are we mistaken?”

Badgley opened up last year about the harassment he experienced while playing Dan on ‘Gossip Girl.’ After revealing that he was literally molested by women, he went on to clarify why he shared the traumatic memory.

“The point of my comment was not to confess a personal trauma. I was speaking about the way emotional and physical boundaries are violated for someone in the public eye, who is seen as an object of desire. Depending on so many factors, it can range from conscious abuse to something very unconscious— and that is the point I was making, cautiously, in the context of a conversation about fanaticism and cultural norms which support manipulative or abusive behavior. These are the same norms which support predatory men, but not exclusively predatory men. They affect, and infect, us all.”

The 32-year-old has taken to Twitter to address the ongoing thirst for Joe Goldberg.

After one follower asked him to kidnap her, Penn responded with ‘no thx.’

He followed that tweet up with a response to a viewer that was complimenting his acting with: “I see that—hope I didn’t accidentally drag you… but look what a response this is getting. People wanna talk about problematic/interesting dimensions of the show which is a positive thing. Thanks for being a part of this process :).”

Have you tuned into ‘You’ yet? What do you think about the show?