Copyright Variety
David Harbour is not having a good month. But attendees at the Los Angeles premiere event on Nov. 6 for the fifth and final season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” might not have noticed. Harbour was all smiles on the red carpet, particularly as he playfully hugged co-star Millie Bobby Brown, and they took selfies with fans. The two arrived at the event together, and even traded compliments in interviews on the carpet: Brown told “Entertainment Tonight” that she “obviously had a really special bond with David because we have a father-daughter relationship, and we do every scene together… It’s been so special to have him along the journey for me.” When Harbour spoke with ET, the only outlet he granted an interview, he said of Brown: “I adore her, and I’ve been proud to watch all of them grow up and become such great artists… this particular project is so special, and we’ve gotten to know each other so deeply.” If the two seemed overly chummy on Thursday, perhaps that was the point: The premiere event came just days after the U.K.’s Daily Mail Nov. 1 report that Brown had filed a complaint of bullying and harassment against Harbour prior to the start of production of Season 5. Neither star commented on the story, and Harbour limited his interactions with the press at the premiere. The news of Brown’s complaint against Harbour has threatened to overshadow coverage of the final season of “Stranger Things.” But insiders say that even before the recent news, Harbour wasn’t expected to take part in press junkets for the show due to his busy filming schedule. (His upcoming projects next year include HBO’s “DTF St. Louis” — with Jason Bateman and Linda Cardellini — and Marvel’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” opening December 2026.) PR experts suggested to Variety that the red carpet choreography — as well as the full cast’s appearance together on stage at the TCL Chinese Theater prior to screening Episode 1 — was meant to send a message that the cast is united, and that the show is bigger than any one person. “The goal in these situations is to make it no worse,” one crisis PR exec said. Instead, Netflix leaned into the imagery of Harbour and Brown being playful on the carpet, posting a video of the two as they greeted fans. Brown’s fashion brand, Florence by Mills, liked the video and posted a heart emoji, and many of the fan comments on the post suggested that they thought the reports of drama between the two stars was much ado about nothing. Photos taken inside the party also show the two being chummy. Sources with knowledge of the situation have confirmed to Variety that there was an investigation into Brown’s complaint, and that it was resolved. As father and daughter on the show, as well as comrades in arms, Brown and Harbour share multiple scenes in Season 5 of “Stranger Things,” including a scene observed by a reporter for Variety during a day-long visit to the set in July 2024. Representatives for Brown, Harbour and Netflix did not respond to requests for comment. On the carpet, the show’s creative leaders — creators Matt and Ross Duffer, and executive producer Shawn Levy — were asked about the complaint directly by the Hollywood Reporter; while they declined to speak about the actors by name, they all spoke about the importance of ensuring their cast feels safe within the “family” atmosphere of the show. “I’ve read a bunch of stories and they range from wildly inaccurate to…there’s so much noise around it,” Levy told the outlet. “But the truth is that we view this crew and this cast as family, and so we treat each other with respect, and that’s always been bedrock.” Said Ross Duffer: “We’ve been doing this for 10 years with this cast, and at this point they’re family and we deeply care about them. So, you know, nothing matters more than just having a set where everyone feels safe and happy.” In the first four seasons of “Stranger Things,” Brown’s character, Eleven (introduced in Season 1 as a quiet, pre-teen girl with extraordinary telekinetic abilities), and Harbour’s character, Hopper (introduced as the burnout chief of police of Hawkins, Indiana), form a surrogate father-daughter bond. In Seasons 2 and 3, Eleven and Hopper experience some friction due to Hopper’s overprotective concern for Eleven’s safety; by Season 4, the characters operate in totally separate storylines and don’t share a scene until the last minutes of the season finale.
