'Stranger Things' Creators Duffer Brothers Deny Verbal Abuse Accusations
"Stranger Things" creators and showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer have denied allegations of verbally abusing crew members on the set of the series.
This is after a grip for the show by the name of Peyton Brown took to Instagram to announce she will not return to work for season 3 because the duo "sought out and verbally abused multiple women," which created to a hostile working environment.
She dropped the bombshell on National Women's Day as she pledged support to the Time's Up and Me Too movement sweeping Hollywood at the moment.
"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," the Duffer brothers said in a statement published by Variety.
"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," they went on to say.
Brown has since deleted her Instagram post, but later on, she reposted it. A transcript of it can be read here. One of the comments in the original post, as per the abovementioned publication, asserts that the abuse involved yelling, insults, and even threats that got people fired or forced to quit.
Netflix has already conducted an investigation on the matter, but they have resolved that they found "no wrongdoing" and concluded that the Duffer Brothers are also as keen as they are in maintaining a "safe, respectful atmosphere on set."
"Stranger Things" season 3 is set to return next year, which means the wait will be longer than that between the first and the second seasons, which were released in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
