Controversies surrounding the cast of Stranger Things ahead of final season

Daily Mail​

8 hours ago

The finale of Stranger Things will finally hit our screens later this year, but viewers may wince at the actors on screen as many have been embroiled in controversy.
During the course of the program's rise to success, some of the stars have found themselves embroiled in scandal, accused of everything from cheating to glorifying acts of war.
We take a look at some of the things the stars are accused of that have rubbed fans up the wrong way.
Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers on the show, faced criticism for his comments on the Israel-Gaza war.
The Jewish actor, 20, was slammed for showing 'Zionism is sexy' stickers in 2023, just one month after he declared: 'You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism.'
He was heavily criticized for both, and took to TikTok to 'set the story straight'.
Noah told fans his 'thoughts and beliefs' had been 'misconstrued from anything even close to what I believe', before insisting he only wants 'peace and safety for innocent people'.
Despite speculation the apology had been forced by Netflix, a source told DailyMail.com that there was 'zero pressure' from the show's cast or producers on Noah to speak out.
The insider said: 'His latest apology wasn't anything forced on him from castmates, the show, producers, or even Netflix.
'People close to him have talked to him about it, but there was zero pressure put on him to do anything specific or take down any videos, or comments on the subject.
'Noah, whether right or wrong, puts his heart out in everything he says and does.
'He just saw the uproar it brought online, and he got scared. The things people were saying to him online or threatening him just got really real, really fast, and he wanted to set the story straight because he never anticipated it would get to this point at any time.'
A representative for Noah declined to comment at the time.
On TikTok, he said: 'I only want peace and safety and security for all innocent people affected by this conflict.
'I've had many open conversations with friends with a Palestinian background and I think they are very important conversations to have and I've learned a lot.
'One of the takeaways I've had is that we all hope for the same things, that being those innocent people being held hostage in Gaza to be returned to their families and equally hope for the end to the war and the loss of innocent life in Palestine - so many of those people being women and children.
'And I think anyone with any ounce of humanity would hope for an end to the hostilities on both sides. I stand against any killing of any innocent people.'
The actor is no stranger to controversy, however. In 2020, aged 15, he denied claims that a video showed him using a racial slur while singing a song.
A clip showed him rapping Chris Brown and Lil Dicky's Freaky Friday, with people convinced he was using an offensive term sung in the track.
But Noah insisted that he had 'never used that word in his life' and said the word 'neighbor' as a 'replacement word' for the derogatory term.
Later in an apology statement, he said he was 'so sorry' and 'I should have kept my moth shut.'
DAVID HARBOUR
David Harbour, who plays gruff but paternal figure Jim Hopper on the show, was recently accused of cheating on his wife, Lily Allen.
Not long before their split, the singer turned amateur sleuth after speculating the actor had 'cheated' on her using celebrity dating app Raya.
She was left in 'agony' when she allegedly discovered David had a secret profile on the platform.
The star joined the app herself, pretending to be 'looking for women' – and allegedly found that David had already set up a dating profile. He was reportedly listed on the app as being active for at least a month.
A source said: 'Lily was looking for women that were on Raya and cross-referencing them with women David follows on Instagram to try to figure out who he was seeing.
'Lily only rejoined Raya to try to figure out whether he was seeing someone. Lily has never even looked at anyone since she met David. She is devastated.'
David's alleged dating profile, exclusively revealed by the Mail on Sunday, read: 'Visiting New York from Atlanta' and 'closet nerd that plays tough guys on your TV'.
It also described him as living in Atlanta, Georgia, 800 miles from the family home in Brooklyn, New York, where the couple moved in 2020, with Lily enrolling her children in local schools.
He bought a house in Atlanta last year to be closer to the Stranger Things set as the show was filming its fifth and final series.
Lily's circle of London friends said she had suspected for some time that her husband was interested in other women.
By the time the couple broke up, she had become convinced that he had a secret girlfriend.
The Daily Mail was told the American actor was romantically involved with a younger costume designer, whom the Mail chose not to name.
'David cheated on Lily,' an associate claimed. 'They met on a movie they did together.' The source, who allegedly witnessed their interactions on set, said: 'They weren't very secretive about their relationship.'
So serious did the romance become that David allegedly paid for the woman to travel more than 400 miles to visit him while he was working on his hit Netflix TV series last year.
'David flew her to Atlanta while he shot Stranger Things to keep him company,' the associate said.
CHARLIE HEATON
Charlie Heaton, who portrayed photographer Jonathan Byers, found his job at risk in 2017 after he was caught up in a cocaine bust at LAX.
The actor, 31, was put on a plane back to London where he pleaded his case with U.S. embassy officials to be let back in to the U.S.
But Stranger Things costume designer Kim Wilcox said Charlie was not pushed out at Netflix despite the bust because the show's creators value him and 'their family atmosphere'.
The designer said the actor 'slipped' in his decision making and that the actor is a 'sensitive soul'.
'Charlie is returning,' she said. 'Charlie actually is one of my favorites of all the actors and I think he's a very sensitive soul.
'I think he's a good man and I think he's made some great decisions in his life and maybe this was just a time where something slipped.
'I think he's a fine actor and he's a great ensemble player and I think that in his work and in his presentation at Stranger Things 2, myself and to everyone else, he is very professional and an incredibly generous human being, so I don't see why they wouldn't invite him back.'
Charlie's return was further aided by the fact that ​U.S. border officials did not press charges or take further action over being discovered with cocaine at the airport.
​Insiders said Netflix had assurances from Charlie that he 'would not let them down again​'.
After the incident, he said in a statement:'My planned travel to the U.S. last week was affected by an issue at U.S. immigration, and I am working to rectify it as soon as possible.
'I do want to clarify that I was not arrested or charged with a crime, and cooperated fully with the U.S. officials at LAX.'
His mother and sister previously said a small amount of cocaine found its way on to his wallet at a party two weeks earlier, or at a bar or at a shop without his knowledge.
Family of the actor​ ​said he has never done drugs in the past and was not under the influence at the time he was stopped at the LA airport.
Brett Gelman, who portrayed Murray in Stranger Things, sparked a backlash after sharing his support of Noah, who previously said 'Zionism is sexy'.
The actor defended the youngster, telling TMZ that the views Noah had shared did not warrant an apology.
Brett argued that anyone who is not pro-Israel is consciously or sub-consciously being anti-Semitic.
'I'm not talking about being for every detail of its government,' he continued. 'Absolutely there are some problems there. I'm not for Netanyahu. But I'm for Israel, I'm for the Israeli people.
He continued: 'I do believe that Israel has the right to defend itself. I'm not for the death of innocent Palestinians at all, and my heart goes out to them and their families as well - but at the same time I don't know why no one is placing their deaths at all at a responsibility of Hamas.
'Everybody wants peace. Nobody wants war. Israel did not start this war.'
Elsewhere online, he was slammed for calling Palestinian supporters 'fake woke liberals' and saying they 'don't read'.
JOSEPH QUINN
Joseph Quinn's time on Stranger Things as Eddie Munson was short but sweet, but his recent romance with Doja Cat sparked criticism as the star is known for being divisive online.
It is unclear if the couple are still together.
In an Instagram Live, Doja once poked fun at people who were concerned about the pandemic.
She said: 'B****, I'm not scared of a coronavirus or the motherf***ing beer version of that s***. I'm gonna get corona and then I'm gonna get a Corona, cause I don't give a f*** about corona, b****. It's a flu!
'I'm not scared. Y'all are p****, period. You just take some Mucinex and drink water and tea and sleep that's all you gotta do. Y'all are so scared of some damn corona. Y'all are so scared of corona that I need a Corona.'
After the pair were spotted together for the first time last year, many took to social media to write: 'Sorry are we just disregarding how weird and problematic Doja has been the last couple years? Joe, what are you doing??????'
'God thank you I feel like I'm going insane with how she's basically an Internet Nazi and everybody is just ignoring that because they like Joseph Quinn,' another penned. 'I'm probably never going to respect him the same way again, honestly. Who you date says a lot about your own personal views.'
'She's an awful person. So mean to her fans,' a third shared.
Others noted she previously had beef with Eddie's co-star, Noah, after she slammed the young actor for sharing messages where she asked him to set her up with Joseph. She described it as 'snake s***'.