As the Stranger Things cast gears up for the release of the fifth and final season of the Netflix smash hit, one key cast member has been noticeably absent from the press tour. Recently, David Harbour, who has played former police chief Jim Hopper on the series for five seasons, has not been seen promoting the series created by the Duffer brothers. That might be because Harbour is currently embroiled in two controversies: one involving his estranged wife, Lily Allen, who has recently filed for divorce, and another with his Stranger Things costar Millie Bobby Brown.
The drama with Harbour started when Allen released her most recent studio album, West End Girl, which appeared to share intimate details from their relationship. Harbour and Allen married in Las Vegas in 2020 and separated in 2024, with Allen officially filing for divorce in September. The next month, Allen released West End Girl, which described multiple betrayals over the course of a marriage, though Allen has said some details are fictional.
Elsewhere, The Daily Mail reported that ahead of filming the fifth season of Stranger Things, Millie Bobby Brown filed a complaint against Harbour accusing him of bullying and harassment while on set. Per The Daily Mail, the “pages and pages” in the complaint did not include any accusations of “sexual impropriety,” and Brown was accompanied by a personal legal representative on set at all times while shooting the show’s final season. Harbour, Brown, and Netflix did not respond to Vanity Fair’s request for comment on the matter.
Now Harbour is nowhere to be seen on the Stranger Things press tour, which reunites the cast for the first time since the last season of Stranger Things aired in 2022. While Stranger Things castmates like Brown, Noah Schnapp, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Sadie Sink, and Caleb McLaughlin all appeared in a Time video looking back at the Netflix hit, Harbour was nowhere to be found. Multiple other prominent cast members, including Winona Ryder, Maya Hawke, and Joe Keery, also did not appear in the Time video. Nevertheless, Harbour also hasn’t posted the show’s recently released final-season trailer, or any other promotional materials to the 8.2 million followers on his personal Instagram account.
A source close to production told Vanity Fair that Harbour was never committed to being active on the Stranger Things press tour given the fact that he is currently in production on another project.
The Stranger Things press tour will see the cast travel to New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo, among other cities. It’s any guess whether Harbour will be along for the ride before the fifth and final season premieres on Netflix November 26. VF has reached out to Harbour for comment on his absence from the press tour.
Original story appeared in VF España.
