Penn Badgley Calls Out Netflix For Glamorizing Jeffrey Dahmer

Ever since the September debut of DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the controversial yet hugely popular Netflix series has been a source of ongoing debate due to its romanticization of a serial killer that raped, killed and mutilated at least 17 men and boys. So despite Evan Peters' performance as Dahmer garnering the show critical acclaim, there's also been plenty of critics, including from members of the LGBTQ+ community and the families of the victims, all of whom have called out Netflix for giving the Ryan Murphy-helmed series a platform. And now, another one of the streaming service's most popular serial killers is weighing in on the debate as well — and he seems to share their sentiments.

On the heels of the release of Youseason four, Badgley sat down for an interview with Entertainment Tonight, where he was asked to send a message to viewers who become "attracted to serial killers" after watching a show.

"You need to look at that, inside," he said before saying that You does encourage people to "fall in love" with his (fictional) serial killer character, Joe Goldberg, which is admittedly "on us." However, he also went on to say that it's different with real murderers by adding that if your crush is "Ted Bundy, that's on you" before also name-checking Dahmer, even though he stopped midway to reconsider.

“That is on Netflix," Badgley ended up concluding, "That is squarely on the shoulders of Netflix.”

But since You is also a Netflix series, it didn't take long for the moment to go viral, with fans praising Badgley for calling "out his own boss" for perpetuating the public's toxic infatuation with serial killers.

“I love that he even calls his own show out. He even says, that's on us,” as one person wrote on Entertainment Tonight's TikTok, while another reminded fans that Badgley also "constantly talks about how much his own character sucks and how we shouldn’t romanticize him and I love him for it.”

Because while the former Gossip Girl star told the outlet that he wasn't sure why people fall for serial killers, he has been incredibly vocal about distaste for Goldberg in the past. Interestingly enough though, one of the best examples of this is probably the time he literally told Netflix that his character is "not actually a person who just needs somebody who loves him," but rather a bonafide "murderer" and "sociopath" who fans need to stop thirsting over.

You can his interview with Entertainment Tonight below.

Photo via Getty / Mike Pont