The Clear Sign Exes Jacob Elordi And Joey King No Longer Get Along
It's a Hollywood trope that actors often fall in love when they work together on set. We've seen it happen with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds — and more recently, Jacob Elordi and Joey King. The pair met while starring together in Netflix's 2018 romcom, "The Kissing Booth." While Elordi and King's relationship only lasted around a year, it still felt significant.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos referred to "The Kissing Booth" as "one of the most watched movies in the world" at the time of its release (via Deadline), and Elordi and King's IRL romance further fueled interest in the film. American teens were laser focused on the couple's relationship, especially when the actors got extra flirty in promo videos, so news of their split came like a dose of cold reality. According to Just Jared, Elordi announced in November 2018 that he would be taking a break from social media, while King tweeted (via Us Weekly), "Thank god I have my dog tho." There was no mention of "staying friends" or "remaining amicable," and from there, things went from bad to worse.
Per Teen Vogue, Elordi blasted the "Kissing Booth" franchise as he began to work on grittier projects like HBO's "Euphoria," and that criticism didn't sit well with his ex. In 2020, King dragged Elordi on X (via The New York Post) after he claimed he hadn't even seen "The Kissing Booth 2." Clearly, Elordi and King don't get along on social media, or otherwise.
Joey King slammed Jacob Elordi for criticizing 'The Kissing Booth'
In 2018, "The Kissing Booth" launched both Jacob Elordi and Joey King's acting careers, but present-day Elordi is embarrassed about the teeny-bopper nature of the films. In 2023, he told GQ that the franchise was "ridiculous," explaining, "I didn't want to make those movies before I made those movies."
King didn't take these comments lightly. "I think it's unfortunate anyone would feel that way," she told Variety. "I had a great time making those movies no matter what anyone says." It's not her first time discrediting Elordi, either. When the "Euphoria" actor revealed in a 2020 Variety interview that he'd never seen the film's sequel, King called him a liar. "Jacob watched it. He's capping," she posted in a since-deleted tweet.
This deleted tweet led fans to believe they weren't on good terms. However, King let people know that she hadn't deleted her tweet because of any bad blood with Elordi during an interview on "The Howard Stern Show." As she explained, she deleted the tweet because she realized she'd used appropriative language.
"'Capping' means lying," she said. "I heard the term 'capping' on, like, TikTok and Twitter and Instagram, through friends, and I was like, 'I guess this is the new thing.'" Apparently not, as the actor came to realize. "It's something I should not have used as a white person," she explained, telling Stern that Elordi actually knew about the tweet the whole time. "I did get [Jacob's] permission to tweet it," King added.
Jacob Elordi and Joey King erased all pictures of each other
Speaking of social media, let's address the fact that Joey King deleted all pictures of her relationship with Jacob Elordi from Instagram, while Elordi deleted his account altogether, per Stylecaster. It's not unusual, but it does indicate that they weren't on the best terms. (Remember how Megan Fox wiped her Instagram account after she accused her on-off fiance Machine Gun Kelly of cheating on her?)
Separately, Elordi spoke publicly about how the media attention he'd received at the height of his relationship with King nearly made him quit acting. "[It] might sound quite sensitive and dramatic, but I am sensitive and dramatic," he joked with GQ in 2022. "I hated being a character to the public. I felt so far from myself." Because Elordi's romance with King also played into fans' excitement around the franchise, the actor felt like even more of a public commodity. "It felt like, all of a sudden, I was a poster ... It felt like it was for sale," he added.
These days, Elordi and King have both moved on. They do still seem to be a bit terse with each other, as evidenced by how King clapped back at Elordi for dissing "The Kissing Booth" in 2023. But after they wrapped filming, Elordi celebrated the films by posting pics of all his co-stars, including King, to Instagram (via Us Weekly) — so make of that what you will.