John Barrowman Is Mad at Everyone but Himself for His Bad Behavior

I was doing a Doctor Who/Torchwood rewatch a few months ago (as you do) and thought to myself, “Where has John Barrowman gone off to?” Asked and, unfortunately, answered with this WalesOnline interview from last week.

Allow me to escort you down this brief, slimy rabbit hole.

In 2021, Noel Clarke — who played Rose’s boyfriend Mickey on Doctor Who — was accused of sexually propositioning and threatening an actress he worked with on a different project. More actresses soon came forward with other allegations and in the course of the investigation a 2015 video surfaced of Clarke and Camille Coduri, who played Rose’s mum, talking about John Barrowman’s penchant for on-set nudity and sophomoric nonsense like (checks article) putting his dick on Coduri’s shoulder?

Once that video surfaced, John Barrowman became persona non grata, for good reason. But all of that mostly flew under the radar in these parts. It was mentioned in an article about James Marsters. But that was it because Barrowman disappeared practically overnight. A Torchwood audio project he was supposed to work on with David Tennant was canceled, and he lost his job as a judge on Dancing On Ice. Although he claims he previously apologized for what he refers to as his “exuberant behavior intended in good humor to entertain colleagues on set and backstage” in 2008, that didn’t cut it then, and it doesn’t cut it now.

Pajiba has always been a fan of Barrowman. I believe we coined the term “multi-sexual dreamboat” just for him in this 2012 article. And he’s been considered for Pajiba 10 a few times if I recall. But we’re always willing to smash the pedestals we put our celebrity crushes on.

Barrowman says he’s “disgusted” by how his Doctor Who and Torchwood co-stars and crew have treated him in the wake of his bad behavior being revealed.

It was crap. I ended up being good clickbait and it has lasted for three years. It’s been devastating - to the point I was blackballed. I can’t get into a room for an audition or a meeting anymore.

Guess what, John? No one wants to see your junk uninvited. Your penis is not Jiminy Cricket and does not belong on your co-worker’s shoulder.

Since he hasn’t been able to get work, he’s producing a new one-man show he’ll be touring around Wales this year. I’m sure it will include a flashy song and dance number about how mean it was for David Tennant to not be OK with his dick wiggling.

While there absolutely should be space for people to learn, grow, and be better, whining about how wronged you were by the people most affected by your behavior is not the way to do it.