Last month, Logan Lerman got married to his long-term girlfriend, ceramic artist Analuisa Corrigan. It’s weird to see your first internet boyfriend get married while you’re still single and living with your parents.

There wasn’t much fanfare around the event. Granted, they have kept their relationship quite private and low-key, but the fans’ reactions are way more subdued than I expected. I’m sure you remember how fans reacted when Justin and Hailey Bieber got married or when Timothée Chalamet went public with Kylie Jenner. The difference is not just about the level of fame, but about the kind of role these male celebrities occupy in the public imagination.

For the sake of this article, let’s say the typical idolized male celebrity is the heartthrob. The heartthrob has the level of fame and adulation like Justin Bieber or 90s Leonardo DiCaprio. The appeal of the heartthrob is his larger-than-life persona, someone just out of reach. Even if he’s everywhere, there is a sheen of glamor and mystery to him; you can only admire him from a distance. 

While the heartthrob still exists, the internet boyfriend has become a more ubiquitous label. With all that social media affords us, changing how we interact with one another and consequently with celebrities, that unattainable and perfect mystique of the heartthrobs is not enough anymore. The fans want someone knowable and authentic, someone more accessible yet still damn near perfect. The internet boyfriend is someone more relatable; he’s someone that’s not 100 percent perfect, but charming and funny. We are under the illusion that we somehow know them.

One way to gauge whether someone is internet boyfriend material is to look at how they show up in interviews or fan interactions. For example, Pedro Pascal is one of the biggest recent internet boyfriends. In his press junkets for Materialists (2025), he was effortlessly charming and seemed approachable and humble. He jokes and laughs like a normal person next to Dakota Johnson. And he looked hot doing it too. 

His appearances are easily made into fan edits, both thirsty and wholesome. We see enough of his good side that it satiates our imaginations enough, but he remains quite elusive. He’s not active on social media; he’s not going rampant in the streets. The mystery remains, but now there is an illusion of emotional closeness.

The internet boyfriend brand relies more on a male celebrity’s personality. Josh O’Connor is another big internet boyfriend. I understand he’s still very attractive, but one of his biggest appeals is the “long lost friend whom I once picked apples with in papa’s orchard” vibe (meaning: endearing). He is soft-spoken, sweet, and still has an air of normalcy around him. He’s not very good with internet lingo or trends, and he loves gardening. 

To top it all off, he’s objectively a great actor. After his electric performance in Challengers (2024) as the cocky tennis player Patrick Zweig, his popularity skyrocketed. You wouldn’t be able to scroll through TikTok without seeing at least one fan edit, either of him in the movie or from his press tour. Post-Challengers, he’s only gotten even bigger roles such as the lead in Wake Up Dead Man (2025) and Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day (2026). His talent may have earned him the roles, but his internet boyfriend label has amplified his market value and cultural capital.

Typically, male celebrities who earn internet boyfriend status have qualities that align closely with what is often described as the female gaze: attractiveness is measured not only by appearance but by character. Fans increasingly expect them to be kind, emotionally intelligent, respectful of women, and unproblematic. 

These expectations may reflect a broader cultural shift. After years of seeing beloved male celebrities exposed for misogyny or abuse, audiences have become more invested in the idea of the “good man.” The internet boyfriend label is like a form of endorsement. Stanning an internet boyfriend signals what type of man you’re attracted to or support. Consequently, these male celebrities are expected to continually embody the values that made him appealing in the first place.

One of the biggest case studies on this is Timothée Chalamet. After his breakout role in Call Me By Your Name (2017) through the Little Women (2019) era, Chalamet was the internet boyfriend. He embodied the “soft boy” type: sensitive but not performative, fashionable but not vain, masculine but not intimidating. He seemed artsy, well-read, comfortable in creative spaces led by women and queer people. Even his romcom curls and relationship with cool girl Lily-Rose Depp contributed to this image. An image that represented a particular set of values and tastes that fans wanted to associate themselves with. 

But as he grew bigger, he became more mainstream and more associated with Hollywood celebrity culture. He started to move away from the softer, more esoteric image that defined his internet boyfriend era. His style and the roles he chose evolved. This may as well be him growing into who he really is, giving fans the authenticity they demand, but by the internet boyfriend standards, he doesn’t qualify anymore. He’s out of the internet boyfriends club and is simply a massive celebrity. 

I do think it’s fair to say the internet boyfriend cycle is akin to fast fashion, but it’s still an oversimplification. There is longevity to the title and the prerequisites haven’t changed that much. Take Logan Lerman; that man has been an internet boyfriend and white boy of the month for years. The internet boyfriend label is given out more generously than before, but that’s because the internet has created space for more niches to gain attention. As long as that fandom or community has a good fan edit editor, I’m sure their pick will be crowned and acknowledged.

This is honestly just a different form of male celebrity idolization and parasocial relationship. Male celebrities can be cute for a moment or endearing in an interview and suddenly be labeled “babygirl” or crowned an internet boyfriend. It’s another (and easier) way for male celebrities to climb the fame ladder, and it’s changing the branding and PR around male celebrities. They are increasingly showing up on shows like Chicken Shop Date or presenting themselves a certain way online to make them feel more charming yet authentic. For fans, it feels like they’re getting to know their idols; for Hollywood, it’s a tool to build and promote a star.