Millie Bobby Brown Will Be Due 'Public Apologies' in 10 Years—Viral Tweet (2024)

Millie Bobby Brown's treatment online has prompted several people to question how mocking a child star became so normalized in recent years. One viral thread predicts that the now 18-year-old will be due a public apology in the future.

The star of Stranger Things has been in the spotlight since she was just 11 years old when she took on the role of Eleven in the beloved Netflix series—but her stunning performances have been somewhat overshadowed by the online controversies that seem to follow her.

One of the most prevalent rumors that has led to widespread mockery of Brown online is the absurd yet preserving meme that she is hom*ophobic.

This nonsense meme was at its height in 2020 and in August of that year, the hashtag #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown was used with many people sharing fake, ridiculous, and nonsensical stories that painted Brown as a hom*ophobic bigot.

There was also an abundance of photos of Brown with fake hom*ophobic quotes accredited to her widely shared.

This meme was resurfaced again this week using a clip from the new season, clocking up hundreds of thousands of views.

No one really believes these stories are true, but they became part of a larger takedown of the young actress at the time which saw her delete her Twitter account in 2018 and never reactivate it.

Now, with the release of Stranger Things Season 4, Brown is once again trending on social media but this time, the majority of tweets are defending her and condemning those who have relished in trolling a teen girl in the public eye.

"the way twitter talks about Millie Bobby Brown is so nasty I literally just know we're going to get public apologies 10 years from now when she's farther removed from this situation and starts talking about how badly everyone treated her," reads one viral tweet from Twitter user @jessicasfault.

While another added: "maturing is realizing those hom*ophobic millie bobby brown jokes were never funny like y'all were so disgusting for bullying a child actor on the internet for your own amusem*nt."

Another said: "Millie Bobby Brown is proof that the internet just hates famous teenage girls, grown adults talking about how Millie is too loud/annoying ok? She's a teenager? I'm sorry she's not making herself small or quiet enough for your liking she has done literally nothing wrong."

In a speech for UNICEF in 2019, Brown opened up about being a victim of trolling.

"Like millions of other girls around the world, I've also been bullied and harassed online," she said at the time.

"It's a terrifying feeling to look at your phone and see that messages people are sending you are filled with anger, hate and even threats. So many of these are strangers and anonymous trolls on the internet. Like all bullies, they gain their power by taking power away from others, by making them feel as scared and helpless as I did."

She continued: "I was lucky. With the help of my friends, family and people around me, I was able to overcome these negative things and take my power back. But millions of children aren't so lucky. They're still struggling in the darkness. Bullying and online threats are never harmless, never just words. It puts children's mental health at risk. It causes stress and, in the most extreme cases, it can lead to self-harm, sickness and even suicide."