Joey King made headlines after she deleted a tweet about her ex-boyfriend and “Kissing Booth” co-star, Jacob Elordi, but the actress had a very mature reason as to why.
While appearing on Sirius XM’s “The Howard Stern Show” Tuesday, the 21-year-old actress talked about removing the tweet calling out her ex.
ICYMI, King recently responded to an interview in which Elordi admitted he hadn’t seen their Netflix film, “The Kissing Booth 2,” claiming he actually had watched it. After she deleted the tweet, many fans assumed it had to do with King and Elordi’s breakup. Addressing the speculation, King set the record straight.
“I said, ‘Jacob watched it. He’s capping.’ Which, ‘capping’ means lying. I heard the term ‘capping’ on like Tik Tok and Twitter and Instagram, through friends, and I was like ‘I guess this is the new thing,” King recalled to Stern. “Apparently it’s not. It’s something I should not have used as a white person. I took it down… two accounts on Twitter called me out for it, that’s why I deleted it. People thought it was because I was like ‘oh no I shouldn’t have said that about him’ so I deleted it because of that.”
“I didn’t know and I’m definitely a person who wants to better myself every day,” she continued. “I’m not just going to sit here and use a term that is not for me to use and just keep it out there, so I deleted it.”
“The tweet was a jovial thing. It wasn’t to be mean — it really wasn’t,” she added. “I know the ‘The Kissing Booth’ fans they are always so curious about that tension of sorts and so I was like I’m just going to, I know they will appreciate it and that’s who it was for.”
King also assured she had Elordi’s “permission” to send the tweet.
The “Ramona & Beezus” star, who dated Elordi from 2017 to 2018, went on to open up about some of the hateful comments she’s received online, including the criticism following her breakup from Elordi.
“That’s so many people and so many of them are so mean,” King said. “I’ve never had a problem with confidence — and I still don’t — it’s just when you read that that many people agree that you’re an ugly piece of shit, you’re like, ‘Oh, f–k me. That sucks.'”
“They think that calling me ugly gives them a better chance of dating [Elordi],” she added. “I tuck myself in watching ‘Frasier’ every night, feeling great about myself because I know why they’re doing it. It doesn’t really hurt me. It’s fine.”
Despite the negativity, King said she’s learned how to deal with the haters.
“All I have to do is just put my little phone down, take a look around, and go, ‘Oh, my life is really great,'” she explained. “I’ve been acting since I was four and now I’m the lead in a rom-com trilogy. Can you imagine anything more amazing than that? No. So, like, f–k ’em.”
Though the “Crazy, Stupid, Love” actress said it was a “good thing” she and Elordi dated, she doesn’t plan on having a relationship with another co-star in the future.
“I learned the most I’ve ever learned in my life from him,” King said of Elordi, to which Stern asked if she’d date ever date an actor she met on set.
“No. I couldn’t,” she replied. “I think that it’s awesome to date someone in your field, who gets it, but doing the same exact thing as somebody is tough. It’s really tough.”
“I’ve dated a few actors before,” she continued. “I’ve never viewed my relationship with them as, ‘Oh I’m not happy for them only I want success,’ but I was worried — and I’m sure they will as well — ‘Will they be happy for me?’ You’re creating a problem that’s not even there when you’re just thinking that.”
After Stern thanked King for her honesty, he asked her to name the “hottest actor” she’s ever seen.
She didn’t hesitate. “Benedict Cumberbatch,” she immediately responded.
King also spoke about working with Patricia Arquette on “The Act,” for which she received her Emmy nomination.
