Jacob Elordi slammed for brushing off rom-com that made him famous as ‘ridiculous’

Jacob Elordi has been taken to task over a comment he made about the rom-com that made him famous. 

The Australian Hollywood star, 26, raised eyebrows earlier this month when he made disparaging remarks about The Kissing Booth movie franchise, which he starred in between 2018 and 2021, in his GQ Men of the Year cover story. 

‘I didn’t want to make those movies before I made those movies,’ he told the publication, adding: ‘Those movies are ridiculous. They’re not universal. They’re an escape.’

But fans of The Kissing Booth have slammed Elordi online, calling him ‘ungrateful’ and ‘disrespectful’ to his former colleagues. 

‘Jacob Elordi needs to understand that when you crap on a project like he has, he’s also crapping on his co-stars, the creators, and especially the fans,’ one user wrote.

‘Those movies are important to a lot of fans. Don’t dismiss them because you suddenly moved up a peg,’ they added. 

Another agreed: ‘I dislike actors who belittle their humble beginnings, where their careers began.’ 

Someone else added: ‘Not great movies, honestly, but a little respect to your previous projects would be good.’

And Joey King, Elordi’s ex-girlfriend and co-star in the films, has also slammed the hunk for dissing the popular (yet dismally-reviewed) trilogy.

‘I think it’s unfortunate anyone would feel that way,’ the 24-year-old Emmy nominee – who starred as Rochelle ‘Elle’ Evans – told Variety last Saturday.

‘I had a great time making those movies no matter what anyone says.’

King and Elordi were only 17 and 19 when they began dating on the set of the Netflix romance in January 2017.

However they broke up by November 2018. which King confirmed to Refinery29 in March 2019.

Also outraged by Elordi’s comments was Taylor Zakhar Perez, who portrayed transfer student and Elle’s dance partner Marco Valentin Peña.

‘I thought it was a shame because to my knowledge, everybody else had such a wonderful experience,’ the 31-year-old Red, White & Royal Blue actor told Variety on November 17.

‘It’s a shame that was his experience on the set. Especially when those movies came out, it was a time when we really needed something like that,’ they continued. 

‘I know from our fan interactions, getting stopped everywhere I go, what Kissing Booth means to people and what it brought them during such a dark time. I guess the silver lining is he still made people laugh and feel good.’

On November 17, Elordi attempted to do a bit of damage control and walk back his statement, telling Variety: ‘I’m incredibly grateful to everybody in it.’ 

The Kissing Booth was Elordi’s second feature film role and – thanks to record-breaking binging by fans – he soon became a household name.

In the trilogy he portrayed Harvard-bound jock Noah Flynn, the long-term crush of late-blooming teenager Elle Evans (Joey King) who has never been kissed. 

Elle decides to run a kissing booth at her high school’s Spring Carnival, and sparks fly when she finds herself locking lips with Noah. 

In a twist, Noah happens to be the older brother of her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney), and her budding romance puts their friendship in jeopardy. 

Jacob is currently Down Under filming his role as Australian Imperial Force soldier Dorrigo Evans in Amazon Prime Video’s five-part adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s 2013 novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Elordi will next reprise his role as ‘psychopathic’ East Highland High School quarterback Nate Jacobs in the third season of Euphoria (featuring a five-year time jump), which begins filming this month.