After a three-year wait, Stranger Things Season 5 is now available to stream on Netflix. This time, the many twists and turns of the show aren't the only talking points regarding the project. Another matter that's been closely watched by fans is the allegations against David Harbour. In early November, a Daily Mail report alleged Millie Bobby Brown had submitted a complaint against the Jim Hopper actor for bullying and harassment (no sexual impropriety was claimed).
At the show's premiere, however, the two actors were remarkably friendly with each other, laughing and posing for pictures together. During the event, both Brown and Harbour spoke highly of their mutual relationship. Now, the actress has assured she felt "safe" filming with the Avengers: Doomsday actor. Speaking to Deadline—posted on the trade's TikTok account—the Enola Holmes actress was asked if she felt safe shooting with her co-star:
"Well, of course I felt safe. I mean, we've worked together for 10 years. I feel safe with everyone on that set. You naturally just... you know, you've been doing it for so long... And we also play father and daughter, so naturally you have a closer bond than the rest, because we have had some really intense scenes together, especially in Season 2."
Brown then stated she and Harbour had a "great relationship" and opened up about her hopes for fans to enjoy the conclusion to Hopper and Eleven's storyline: "[David] and I have a great relationship. We work really closely together in the scenes, and in preparing for the scenes. And I really am excited for everyone to see the labor of love and hard work we've put into the closure of our relationship, and what that looks like; and to give some of the fans—especially the Hopper and Eleven fans—that kind of... those scenes that I [feel] are going to be quite impactful."
The Electric State star also said she felt pushed to give her best performance on the days she would work with Harbour: "It makes me want to bring my A-game, every single time I see that I'm on the call sheet working with him, because I know he's bringing it right back, so it's pretty... Yeah, [sometimes], it's a wake-up call."
Recently, the actress also addressed why she had been so friendly with Harbour during the Stranger Things Season 5 premiere. The Hollywood Reporter asked Brown why it had been important for her to present such a big display of admiration for Harbour at the event. She responded:
"We've been doing that for the last 10 years. I mean, we have always been united in that. We love this show with everything, and we value our friendship more than anything."
Shortly after the allegations regarding Harbour surfaced, Variety reported that an investigation into the actor had taken place, but that it had been resolved. Per the site, showing Brown and Harbour being so friendly with each other at the premiere was likely a deliberate move to show a united front for audiences.
It's impossible to know how much (if at all) said display helped. Ultimately, it doesn't appear the allegations against Harbour derailed the show's release or public excitement around it. On its premiere date, Netflix crashed twice in one day, seemingly from a large number of users logging into the service to watch the new season. The uproar of the outage was such, that the streamer even released a statement to assure the crash had only lasted five minutes:
"Some members briefly experienced an issue streaming on TV devices, but service recovered for all accounts within five minutes."
Part 1 of Stranger Things Season 5 is streaming on Netflix. Part 2 will be released on December 25, and the show's final episode will come out on December 31, 2025.