Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour attend the ‘Stranger Issues’ season 5 premiere in Los Angeles. Picture: AFP
As Netflix’s flagship collection ‘Stranger Issues’ approaches its long-awaited conclusion, the highlight at its Los Angeles world premiere was much less on the supernatural than on its embattled stars Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour.
The 2 actors, on the centre of current harassment allegations, appeared collectively on Thursday evening, greeting one another warmly and signalling that the rumours of discord might have been overstated.
Their joint look got here simply days after studies surfaced alleging that Brown had filed a “harassment and bullying declare” towards Harbour previous to manufacturing on the present’s fifth and last season.
In response to British tabloid studies, the declare prompted a months-long inner investigation by Netflix. Though no misconduct allegations have been made, Brown was stated to have had a consultant on set all through the filming interval, which concluded in December 2024.
Each actors have maintained public silence on the matter, however their red-carpet camaraderie — marked by laughter and a quick embrace — rapidly circulated on social media by official ‘Stranger Issues’ and Netflix accounts.
Present creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, and govt producer Shawn Levy addressed the difficulty extra immediately on the purple carpet, insisting that studies of pressure had been exaggerated.
“We have been doing this for 10 years with this forged, and at this level they’re household,” Ross Duffer informed The Hollywood Reporter. “Nothing issues greater than having a set the place everybody feels protected and glad.”
Levy, who has directed a number of of the present’s most acclaimed episodes, echoed that sentiment, emphasising the manufacturing’s long-standing dedication to sustaining a respectful office.
“You need to create an setting the place everybody feels snug and protected, and we did every part to construct that. We’re pleased with that reality,” he stated, including that a lot of the protection across the claims had been “wildly inaccurate.”
The allegations gained traction following the resurfacing of a 2024 interview by which Brown appeared visibly uncomfortable when a talk-show host joked about Harbour officiating her marriage ceremony to musician Jake Bongiovi.
Harbour had carried out the ceremony for co-stars in earlier off-screen occasions, however on this case, actor Matthew Modine, who performs Dr Brenner within the collection, presided over the couple’s marriage earlier this yr.
Within the wake of the controversy, Brown, now 21, has been vocal about her discomfort with the media’s remedy of her, accusing retailers of “bullying” by fixed scrutiny of her private life and look.
Harbour, 50, in the meantime, has praised her in interviews as “a unprecedented expertise” and just lately informed Esquire Spain that he “adores her,” reflecting on their decade-long skilled bond.
The timing of the allegations additionally coincided with Harbour’s noticeable absence from the ‘Stranger Issues’ press tour, which fuelled on-line hypothesis.
His ex-wife, British singer Lily Allen, had simply launched her album ‘West Finish Lady’, whose lyrics have been extensively interpreted as alluding to their former marriage. Followers linked his silence to the file’s publicity storm.
Nonetheless, ‘E! Information’ reported that Harbour’s absence from promotional appearances was unrelated to both the album or the controversy surrounding Brown. As a substitute, the actor has been filming ‘Evil Genius’, a thriller directed by ‘Pals’ alum Courteney Cox, alongside Patricia Arquette.
The movie, based mostly on the real-life crime case chronicled in a Netflix documentary, is claimed to have prevented Harbour from becoming a member of his co-stars for early promotional occasions.
Regardless of the swirl of rumours, Harbour made good on his dedication to attend the Los Angeles premiere, the place he appeared composed and jovial. His reunion with Brown, each onstage and in entrance of photographers, instructed an intention to maneuver previous the turbulence that had dominated headlines in current weeks.
Neither Netflix nor representatives for the 2 actors have commented publicly on the alleged grievance first reported by the Every day Mail. But insiders near the manufacturing insist that the inner inquiry — whereas intensive – discovered no misconduct warranting disciplinary motion. The investigation’s quiet decision, mixed with the forged’s united show, seems to have steered the narrative again to the present itself.
The ultimate season of ‘Stranger Issues’ is cut up into three elements. It begins streaming on November26, adopted by instalments on 25 December and a feature-length finale on New 12 months’s Eve — the identical evening Netflix will launch it in choose theatres worldwide.
