Internet trolls are furious after John Krasinski was handed the title of Sexiest Man Alive by a US magazine.
The Office star posed shirtless in a People magazine cover shoot to celebrate the accolade and his former co-star in the sitcom Kate Flannery, who played Meredith Palmer in the sitcom, was among those who backed up his hot credentials.
However others have piled on after he was chosen over their favourites.
Krasinski, 45, was given his new title as People magazine’s 2024 Sexiest Man Alive and posed for the yearly campaign on a New York City yellow taxi cab.
He joked he had an “immediate blackout” upon hearing he received the coveted title, which had previously been bestowed on Patrick Dempsey, Chris Evans, Paul Rudd, Michael B. Jordan, Idris Elba and more.
Krasinski’s wife of 14 years, actress Emily Blunt joked she was interested in wallpapering their Brooklyn home with the cover.
But the Internet has seen red since Krasinski’s face appeared on the cover of the magazine.
Though some fans and followers complimented the choice, online trolls couldn’t resist having a pop.
“Did all of the other men on Earth die?” One social media user questioned.
“Is this for real?” one fan wrote, while another said, “After the week we just had….”
“What the actual,” one user questioned.
“No way,” another follower wrote, with one user echoing similar statements, “That’s a joke.”
One claimed: “He’s hideous, I’m sorry.”
Even the actor, who is best known for playing the role of Jim Halpert on the American version of the sitcom The Office, said he thought he was being ‘punk’d’ when he heard the news.
But his former co-star Flannery jumped to Krasinski’s defence, posting: “It’s about time!” Fashion model Dr Sara Qusheri posted on X: “Jim’s pranks just got a whole lot sexier. John Krasinski’s the master of charm.”
Krasinski, who also created the film franchise A Quiet Place, promised to “do more chores” after hearing he had won.
Krasinski has been married to Devil Wears Prada actress Emily, 42, since 2010. The couple, who live in Brooklyn, have two daughters, Hazel, 10, and Violet, 8.
Speaking to the magazine about his new title, John said his wife was “very excited”.
He added: “There was a lot of joy involved in me telling her.”
Meanwhile, John’s reaction to finding out he has won was far different from his wife’s.
He told the magazine that he immediately blacked out and had “zero thoughts” on being crowned the Sexiest Man Alive.
He said: “Just immediate blackout, actually. Zero thoughts,” he tells the magazine in this week’s cover story. “Other than maybe I’m being punk’d. That’s not how I wake up, thinking, ‘Is this the day that I’ll be asked to be Sexiest Man Alive?’ And yet it was the day you guys did it. You guys have really raised the bar for me.”
On the news that his wife plans to wallpaper the house with the cover, he added: “Do we have that on camera? Because that’s like a binding contract, I think,” he said. “My children will love that, it won’t be weird at all.”
After his nine-year run as Jim Halpert on the hit series The Office, Krasinski co-wrote, directed and starred alongside Blunt in the 2018 thriller A Quiet Place.
But only after the film got multiple rejections from Hollywood.
Its massive success spawned two sequels, while Krasinski, who got ripped for Michael Bay’s 13 Hours, stayed in fighting shape to play the titular Jack Ryan for four seasons on the popular Amazon Prime Video series, now set to become a film.
With this year’s movie IF, which he also starred in, wrote, produced and directed, the actor solidified his status as one of Hollywood’s top filmmakers.
“I had to pitch the studio like 54 times before they said yes,” he said. “I’m pretty sure someone said: ‘Sorry, is Jim from The Office going to direct this?’ And I went: ‘Oh, it’s John, but we’ll get there.’ ”
He’ll next star alongside Natalie Portman in the action heist film Fountain of Youth.
Of his family life with Blunt and his kids, he said: “It’s that beautiful thing where when you’re married to someone, you’re constantly learning and changing and evolving. And I’m so lucky to go through all that with her.”
On being the Sexiest Man Alive he added: “I think it’s going to make me do more household chores,” he jokes. “After this comes out, she’ll be like, ‘All right, that means you’re going to really earn it here at home.’ ”
Not everyone agreed with the choice however.
“Mistake was made,” one person commented on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“How do they even choose these things?!” asked another confused fan.
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