Henry Cavill
Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage

Henry Cavill‘s gorgeous new girlfriend Natalie Viscuso has been the subject of online harassment after the couple went Instagram official back in April. At the weekend the Superman actor took matters into his own hands for an IRL superhero moment. Alongside an image of the couple posted to Instagram, Cavill released a lengthy statement.

“Dear fans and followers, I wanted to make a wee community announcement. I couldn’t help but notice that there has been some social animosity of late. It’s becoming increasingly prevalent on my feed,” the actor wrote. “There has been lots of, let’s call it speculation for now, about my private life and professional partnerships. Now, while I do appreciate the passion and support by those very people who are ‘speculating’, It has come to such a point that I needed to say something, which in itself, is a bad thing.”

He added, “We are living in an age of social enlightenment. More and more, people are realising that their views may have been blinkered and that they need to expand them to encompass others. So, to you out there who are expressing your disdain and showing your displeasure through a surprising variety of ways, it’s time to stop. I know it can be fun to speculate, to gossip, and to dive into our own personal echo chambers on the internet, but your ‘passion’ is misplaced, and it causes harm to the people I care about most.”

Cavill rounded out the statement by confirming he was very much “happy in love, and in life” and asked for his followers and fans to feel the same way. Comments have been turned off for the post.

“If you can’t bring yourself to be happy with me, then at the very least try to do yourself proud and be the best version of yourself.”

Confirmation of the romance arrived in April when the actor posted a selfie of himself and Viscuso playing chess. The caption read, “This is me looking quietly confident shortly before my beautiful and brilliant love Natalie, destroys me at chess.”

Cavill is notoriously closed off when it comes to his private life. He was previously known to be dating Big Bang Theory star, Kaley Cuoco, for just two weeks in July 2013.

Viscuso is the vice president of Legendary Entertainment, the production company behind huge Hollywood projects such as 2013 film Man of Steel and 2020 Netflix series Enola Holmes. Cavill has acting credits in both films.