What David Harbour Really Said About Millie Bobby Brown Before Her Bullying Complaint

David Harbour is already dealing with a very public split from Lily Allen, and now there is a new headache in the mix: a report says Millie Bobby Brown filed a bullying and harassment complaint against him right before Stranger Things season 5 started filming. If you have heard Harbour gush about Brown over the years, that allegation is... a turn.

What is being alleged

This comes from the Daily Mail, summarized elsewhere, and it paints a pretty specific picture: Brown, 21, allegedly filed an official harassment and bullying claim ahead of cameras rolling on season 5. The report says it was not a short note, either — think pages of accusations — and an internal investigation stretched on for months. During the actual shoot, Brown reportedly had a personal representative on set to make sure interactions stayed professional.

That is the claim. The report does not include formal statements from the parties involved, and I have not independently verified any of it. But if true, it clashes hard with how Harbour has talked about Brown in public for years.

The whiplash: what Harbour has said about Brown

Harbour has consistently described their relationship as warm, protective, and very much like their on-screen father-daughter dynamic. Here is the greatest-hits version of what he has said over time, pulled from multiple interviews and appearances:

• From early days on Stranger Things, he said they had a special bond because he knew her before the global fame hit. On a podcast, he described feeling protective of her and worried about what fame can do to a young actor.
• He has compared their off-camera vibe to a grumpy dad and a precocious teen trading jabs — affectionate bickering, basically. He joked about her being delightfully chaotic while he plays the curmudgeon, and said they are both very comfortable telling each other when they think the other is making a good call or a bad one.
• His favorite memories from season 3 were not the monster stuff; they were the quiet mornings in the makeup trailer, chatting about life. He has also joked that Brown is extremely curious about his romantic life and that it annoys him in the most big-dad-energy way.
• Backstage at the Critics' Choice Awards in 2018, he said he wanted Brown to grow up in a healthier version of Hollywood — one that tells her stories and gives her the space to keep the spark that made her stand out in the first place. He talked about the power of the stories we tell and hoped that would be the environment she grows up in.
• He has called her gifted and talked about how, not having children himself, the relationship brought out a rarely felt paternal feeling — real protective love, as he put it — the kind he otherwise mostly reserves for, yes, his cats. Classic Harbour: earnest with a side of self-deprecating humor.
• He has also said he thinks she could go all the way, awards-wise. He once joked that when he is old and cranky in a nursing home, he hopes she swings by to show him her Oscars. Sweet line, but there is a real concern underneath: he has been vocal about how intense the social media era is for teens, noting how overwhelming it is to build a public persona at 13 or 14 for millions of followers.

"I have a real protective feeling for her."

So what do we do with that?

If the report is accurate, it is a stark contrast with years of Harbour praising Brown like a proud TV dad. That contrast is exactly why this story is getting traction: the public version of their dynamic has always looked supportive, warm, and frankly pretty endearing. Turning that into a formal complaint with an internal probe and a rep on set is a big leap from lighthearted makeup-trailer banter.

Where things stand now

Stranger Things is the Duffer Brothers' juggernaut for Netflix, currently four seasons deep with a fifth on the way. The show sits at 8.6 on IMDb and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. The report I referenced lists season 5 as premiering on November 26, 2025. As for the complaint itself, the reporting describes alleged filings and an internal investigation, but it does not include official comments from Harbour, Brown, Netflix, or their reps.

Bottom line

There are serious allegations on one side and years of affectionate, very public praise on the other. Until someone goes on record, we are stuck in the awkward middle. If the report holds up, it is a messy situation for a cast that has always sold itself as a family. If it does not, this will go down as an ugly rumor that hit at the worst possible time for Harbour.

How are you reading this? Do those dad-like comments still land as genuine, or do they play differently now?