David Harbour says he and Millie Bobby Brown still adore each other

David Harbour says he and Millie Bobby Brown “still adore each other” after allegations of “harassment and bullying” surfaced last year, and he argues it was a “simple rupture-and-repair thing” once they “cleared everybody out of the way and talked to each other.” Harbour also said he and Brown are currently working on “several” new projects together, adding: “You’ll see more of me and Millie,” and calling their bond something that continued long after Stranger Things began 10 years ago. In the same report, Brown told Variety that their relationship became “much more collaborative creatively” over the show’s run, and that despite rumors of a rift, she felt safe on set.

This is the part executives should notice: the allegations were reported in November and described as allegedly prompting an internal inquiry on the Netflix show, with the report stating there were no claims of sexual impropriety. Harbour and Brown are now addressing the situation publicly through Variety, and Harbour frames it as normal human conflict management rather than a lasting fracture. That contrast, between a serious on-set investigation and a later “we’re fine” outcome, is exactly where productions, boards, and HR leaders tend to get stuck in real time.

Here’s what we know from the reporting. In November, a report emerged that Brown had accused her Stranger Things co-star of “harassment and bullying” on set, allegedly leading to an internal inquiry on the Netflix series. The report also said there were no claims of sexual impropriety. Harbour’s response, delivered in an interview with Variety on June 10, 2026, describes the whole episode as “a weird thing” that “came out in a weird way.” He then stresses that the pair remain close and are collaborating again, saying: “Everyone nowadays is very scared of talking about things. People are very scared of being human.”

Harbour’s “rupture-and-repair” explanation is worth parsing, because it reveals how people handle disputes when reputational risk is high. He says it was “completely normal,” and that after they talked and moved others aside, they were fine. He also adds a practical timeline point: “10 years wasn’t enough. There is a special bond there.” Harbour’s framing is not legal argument, and he does not cite any specific investigative outcome beyond what the original report stated. But the fact that he and Brown are both speaking to Variety at the same time, and doing so while continuing to work together on “several” new projects, suggests there is no public, lingering collapse in their working relationship.

Brown’s Variety comments give more detail on what “repair” looked like for her. She says she changed “so much from Season 1 to Season 5,” and that Harbour “was there through all of it.” Over time, she claims their relationship became “much more collaborative creatively,” and that working with the same person for that many years allowed them to “push each other emotionally in scenes.” She also points to gratitude for the shared experience, saying she’ll “always remember and value” getting to share it. Those themes matter for leaders because they show the human side of continuity: when a cast has built years of creative muscle together, disruptions can be handled without necessarily ending collaboration.

Brown also addressed rumors quickly after the original report was published. The coverage says she played down talk of a rift with Harbour, insisting it was “really exciting” to work with him on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. She reiterated she remained on good terms with her on-screen father, saying: “We’ve worked together for 10 years. I feel safe with everyone on that set.” She also added that the father-and-daughter dynamic gives a “closer bond” because they have “had some really intense scenes together, especially in season two.” In other words, the public messaging was not just “we’re fine now.” It was “we kept operating while the story ran.” That’s a crucial governance lesson for entertainment and other people-heavy industries.

Netflix did not comment on the story, but Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer told The Hollywood Reporter that he cannot get into personal on-set matters. He nonetheless offered a broad boundary and a reassurance: Stranger Things has been “doing this for 10 years with this cast,” and at this point “they’re family and we deeply care about them,” with the priority being “a set where everyone feels safe and happy.” For executives, that’s essentially a risk statement without specifics: maintain psychological safety, avoid personal details, but signal that the system worked enough to keep the machine running.

Second-order implications are where this becomes more than celebrity news. When workplace allegations surface, internal inquiries, HR processes, and public narratives collide. Even if a report states there were no claims of sexual impropriety, the allegation label itself, “harassment and bullying,” can travel faster than investigation results. Then, when the affected parties later say they still adore each other and are working together, it raises the question executives should already be asking: are your internal processes designed to resolve conflict while protecting safety, or are they designed mainly to survive headlines? Productions are especially vulnerable because work is collaborative and schedules are fixed, which makes trust a production asset.

Finally, there is another culture-facing thread in Harbour’s Variety interview: he also discussed living through Lily Allen detailing their breakup on her album ‘West End Girl.’ He called the experience “weird,” said he believes “it is the privilege of every artist to use their experience to create art,” and he said he respects her for doing that. Harbour also emphasized privacy, saying he can’t say more because it’s his private life, and that “people are very scared” of being human is, in a way, the same subtext as the harassment story. For leaders, the through-line is simple: in today’s media world, personal boundaries, internal handling, and public communication have to be managed together, or the system will feel broken even when the underlying outcome is “we’re fine.”