stranger things duffer brothers

On Friday, Peyton Brown, a female grip handler on the Netflix phenomenon ‘Stranger Things’ posted a lengthy “Time Is Up”-themed message on Instagram, condemning “two men in high positions of power” for verbally berating female crew members.  You can read it for yourself 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

A post shared by P (@peytonnbrown) on


 

While she initially didn’t name these “two men,” but after others read her message and asked, she admitted she was talking about the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, who go by the collective name the Duffer Brothers.  These accusations were pretty serious as Brown stated that this was the reason she was not returning to work for the show’s third season.  As she wrote “There was yelling, there were insults, there were threats and people were even fired or forced to quit because of them.”

The Duffer Brothers quickly issued a statement reading:

“We are deeply upset to learn that someone felt uncomfortable on our set.  Due to the high-stress nature of production, tempers occasionally get frayed, and for that, we apologize. However, we think it is important not to mischaracterize our set, where 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.”

Now Netflix has issued a statement, indicating that they have looked into these allegations and have found “no wrongdoing.”

“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.”

The “Time Is Up” movement and the wave of women and men coming forward and outing men in positions of power who abuse their power to sexually abuse and harass others is one of the most complex and controversial issues plaguing the entertainment industry today.  While some cases (Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey) are more open/shut, others have been murkier and this sounds like one of those cases.  One doesn’t want to dismiss a victim who has been legitimately harmed, but the wave of accusations leaves the door open for false accusations or people who simply have perceived grievances to attack those they believe have wronged them.  Not to discount Brown’s charges, but at least that this point, Netflix has investigated and have not found the Duffer Brothers’ behavior to have been out of line.

If things change, we will let you know.

Source: Entertainment Weekly