It's not been a good month for David Harbour. After having his dirty laundry aired in public courtesy of ex-wife Lily Allen's scathing new album, the actor made headlines earlier this week for allegedly bullying and harassing co-star Millie Bobby Brown on the set of Stranger Things.
However, the duo did the best to dispel those claims with a playful, extremely brazen display of affection at the premiere for the show's upcoming fifth and final season. They also praised each other in interviews, with it fairly obvious that Netflix didn't want to overshadow Stranger Things' return with continued reports about the on-screen father and daughter.
According to Variety, Harbour and Brown appearing "overly chummy" was "the point," 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."
The Thunderbolts* star only granted one interview at the event, and largely interacted with Brown rather than his other co-stars. The report states, "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."
While it may seem like the whole thing is being blown out of proportion—the videos of Harbour and Brown together have prompted many fans to brand the bullying reports as "fake"—the trade has confirmed that an investigation did take place and that it was resolved.
It could be as simple as one bad day on set, and it's worth noting that when The Daily Mail broke the news, their source was said to be a friend of Harbour's ex-wife; with that in mind, it seems the intention was to continue shining a negative spotlight on the Stranger Things star.
Executive producer and director Shawn Levy was asked about the reports on Thursday and said, "I’ve read a bunch of stories and they range from wildly inaccurate to...there’s so much noise around it," he stated. "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."
Co-creator Ross Duffer added, "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."
The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding.
As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.
Stranger Things Season 5, which will consist of eight episodes, is set to be released in three parts, with two volumes on November 26 and December 25, 2025, and the finale on December 31.