David Harbour addresses Millie Bobby Brown bullying claims, says he had a breakdown: 'We adore each other'

David Harbour has finally broken his silence about the rift with his Stranger Things co-star Millie Bobby Brown, characterising the controversy as an exaggerated account of a routine disagreement between two colleagues who worked closely together for nearly a decade.

In a recent interview with Variety, the actor addressed claims that surfaced last November alleging Brown had filed a bullying and harassment complaint against him before production began on the fifth and final season of the Netflix series.

Harbour said the reports were distorted by media speculation, describing the coverage as something that "came out in a weird way" and was "a weird thing."

The actor explained that occasional disagreements were inevitable given the nature of his long-standing professional relationship with Brown, who played his on-screen adopted daughter throughout the show's run.

“In this weird world we live in, where sound bites will be created, I’m trying to figure out how to say this...It’s a show that went on for 10 years. We worked together for 10 years during her formative teenage years, playing father and daughter. I don’t know if people have families and friends that you spend a lot of time with for 10 years — you occasionally get in arguments, disagreements.”

According to Harbour, the issue was ultimately resolved through a direct conversation between the two actors.

“It was just a simple rupture-and-repair thing that, once we cleared everybody out of the way and talked to each other, we’re fine. Everyone nowadays is very scared of talking about things. People are very scared of being human. It’s unfortunate, because I don’t know how to navigate this weird media world. But it was completely normal, and we adore each other and always have,” he said.

Harbour also revealed that he and Brown remain on good terms professionally and are currently "working on several" projects together, although he declined to share further details.

The speculation originated from a Daily Mail report that cited an unnamed source claiming Brown had submitted “pages and pages of accusations” against Harbour and that Netflix had conducted a months-long investigation into the allegations before filming the final season.

Rejecting the claims, Harbour said he “had a breakdown” after reading the report. He also described the timing of the story as unusual, noting that it emerged shortly after the release of his former wife Lily Allen’s album West End Girl, which included material critical of him.

Despite the rumours, Harbour and Brown publicly presented a united front at the Los Angeles premiere of Stranger Things season five last November, where they were photographed posing together on the red carpet at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

Over the course of the series, which ran from 2016 to 2025, Harbour portrayed Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper, whose evolving relationship with Brown's character Eleven became one of the show's defining storylines.