STRANGER THINGS Crew Member Accuses Duffer Brothers Of Alleged "Verbal Abuse" Towards Women On Set

While the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have been mostly focused on sexual harassment and violence in the workplace, abuse can come in many forms. And now Stranger Things creators and showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer have been accused by former crew member Peyton Brown of verbally abusing "multiple women" on the set of the hit Netflix show.

Brown made the accusation via an Instagram post celebrating International Women's Day. In the post, Brown revealed she will not be returning to work on the third season of the show due to the alleged inappropriate behavior of "two men in high positions of power." 

"I promised myself that if I were ever in a situation to say something that I would. I have 11.5 thousand followers who can hear me say this, TIME IS UP," she wrote. Brown's full post can be seen below.

 

I guess there’s no better day than #nationalwomensday to say #timesup and announce that I will not be a part of the filming of Season 3 of Stranger Things. Why, you ask? Because I stand with my sisters. I personally witnessed two men in high positions of power on that set seek out and verbally abuse multiple women. I promised myself that if I were ever in a situation to say something that I would. I have 11.5 thousand followers who can hear me say this, TIME IS UP. Women in the film industry are POWERFUL. We will rise and we will scream from mountain tops in support of each other and I will not contribute my time, efforts, and talent to such abusive people. There is too much going on in this world to be regressive. There are too many amazing and highly respected men in respective positions of power that I have had the utmost pleasure of working beside. Those are the people I want to surround myself with. Those are the projects I want to be a part of. This industry is no longer led by a “few good men,” but instead by an OCEAN of ASTOUNDING WOMEN. Enough is enough. For my sisters- Time is up. #timesup #theabusestopsnow #ontobiggerandbetter #standupforwhatsright #womenempowerment #ladygrip #sisterhood #iatsesisters #wewillbeheard #thispicsaysitall

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Mar 8, 2018 at 10:18am PST

Brown didn't outright identify who she was accusing in the post; however, in a now-deleted reply to a comment on her post, she revealed that she was speaking about the Duffer brothers. When asked to clarify the alleged abuse, Brown explained, "There was yelling, there were insults, there were threats and people even fired or forced to quit because of them."


Yelling on the set of high profile productions is not uncommon in the industry. This type of behavior is actually pretty commonplace in any intense, high-stress job; but, that doesn't necessarily mean it should be tolerated. After all, it's still a workplace environment and all people should be treated with respect.

That said, it's also important to remember that so far Brown is the only crew member to come forward with allegations of verbal abuse. It's important to believe her and look into her claims, but we should probably reserve final judgment until we get the facts. Hopefully Brown's comments spark an internal investigation by the studio.

Representatives for the Duffer brothers and Netflix have not yet responded to the allegations.