If you thought the infamous Saltburn bathtub scene was shocking, wait until you hear what Jacob Elordi has to say about the backlash. The Australian actor isn’t holding back, and he’s got some thoughts about why people are so worked up over a bit of taboo content.
Speaking on Entertainment Weekly’s Awardist podcast, Jacob Elordi addressed the controversy surrounding the scene that had everyone talking. You know the one—where Barry Keoghan‘s character drinks bathwater after secretly watching Elordi’s character, Felix, pleasure himself in the tub. Yeah, that one. And honestly? Elordi thinks the reaction says more about us than it does about the movie.
“I actually think it shows me just how, I guess, prudish we are,” Elordi told the podcast. He didn’t stop there, though. The Euphoria star pointed out that when it comes to graphic content, society seems to have some pretty selective outrage. “When I watch that, I just think there’s far more extreme things in cinema that I’ve seen, far more graphic,” he explained.
Here’s where things get interesting. While people were clutching their pearls over the Saltburn bathtub scene, Elordi noticed something strange. Audiences happily consume violent, disturbing content without batting an eye. “There’s more alarming things in the top 10 streamed remakes of crime documentaries on every streaming platform,” he said. “I think that’s much more alarming, the kind of horrible joy that we all get from watching children be mutilated.”
So what exactly is it about sexual content that makes us so uncomfortable? Elordi finds this double standard fascinating. “I was like, here’s a piece of fiction with something just a little taboo, and that makes people’s skin crawl. It’s an interesting parallel,” he reflected.
The scene in question definitely caused a stir when Saltburn hit Amazon Prime Video. It even inspired a viral “Jacob Elordi’s Bathwater” candle that took the internet by storm. Meanwhile, the actor described the controversial moment as merely being “just a little taboo”—not exactly the apocalyptic content some made it out to be.
Elordi also chatted with Josh Horowitz on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, where he doubled down on his stance. He explained that Saltburn lived “two different lives”—one as a theatrical experience and another on streaming—which led to wildly different responses. On streaming platforms, people viewed it more through a “social” lens than as a proper Friday-night cinema experience.
At the end of the day, whether you loved it or hated it, the bathtub scene got people talking. And that’s exactly what director Emerald Fennell was going for. The film sparked conversations about desire, obsession, and just how prude we’ve become when it comes to sex on screen.
Maybe Elordi has a point. After all, we’ll watch true crime docs about serial killers over breakfast, but a fictional character getting frisky in a bathtub? That’s where we draw the line.
