A former crew member shared an Instagram post in which she alleged the co-creators had verbally abused multiple women while filming Stranger Things
Stranger Things’ co-creators the Duffer brothers have apologised after a former crew member accused them of verbally abusing multiple women on the set of the breakout Netflix show.
In an Instagram post, Peyton Brown said: ‘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. TIME IS UP.’
Although she did not reference the Duffer brothers directly in her Instagram post, she confirmed to Buzzfeed that she was indeed talking about the duo behind the TV series. Citing International Women’s Day and the Time’s Up movement as inspiration for her post, Brown said women in the film industry were powerful and were now rising up.
The Instagram post shared by Peyton Brown/@peytonnbrown
‘I promised myself that if I were ever in a situation to say something that I would,’ she wrote, ‘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.’ Peyton also said she would not be returning to filming of Stranger Things for its third showrun.
The Duffers responded on Sunday with a statement that said they were ‘deeply upset to learn that someone felt uncomfortable on our set’, adding that because of the ‘high-stress nature of production, tempers occasionally get frayed, and for that, we apologise’. But the brothers stressed that they didn’t want to be mischaracterised. ‘We think it is important not to mischaracterise our set,’ they added.
‘We believe strongly in treating everyone fairly regardless of gender, orientation, race, religion, or anything else. We remain totally committed to providing a safe and collaborative working environment for everyone on our productions.’
Netflix also released a statement, saying that the company had launched an investigation into any wrongdoing done by the Duffers, but found no evidence: ‘We looked into the concern that was raised when we heard of the allegation on Thursday, and found no wrongdoing. Maintaining a safe, respectful atmosphere on set is important to us, and we know it is to the Duffer brothers as well.’