The friendship between Drake and then-14-year-old Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown raised some eyebrows back in 2018. Many fans of the actress balked at the idea of a man 17 years her senior texting the young actress. Brown pushed back against the criticism, though, defending the rapper from accusations of grooming and worse.
It all started with a fairly innocent interview Brown gave Access in 2018. In the short chat with the reporter on the red carpet, the then-14-year-old actress revealed that she and Drake were friends, gushing, “I love him. I met him in Australia and he’s honestly so fantastic, and a great friend, a great role model.” So far, so normal. Where things got a little…strange, was when Brown let slip that she and Drake often texted each other.
The then-31-year-old rapper sometimes gave her advice about boys, though Brown declined to go into detail about what that advice was. What disturbed some viewers was what Brown did divulge about their text conversations. “We text—we just texted each other the other day and he was like, ‘I miss you so much,’ and I was like, ‘I miss you more,'” Brown told the reporter.
The backlash against the “God’s Plan” rapper was instant. Twitter was filled with outrage towards the older artist and many called the relationship inappropriate. Others joked that the rapper was only waiting for the teen actress to turn 18 to make his move.
Millie Bobby Brown Speaks Out
A few days after the controversial interview aired, Brown fired back at critics through an Instagram Stories post. “Why u gotta make a lovely friendship ur headline? U guys are weird . . . for real,” she wrote. Brown went on to call herself “lucky” that other people in the same business “extend their time to help me further my career and offer their wisdom and guidance.”
Brown said she was “very blessed to have amazing people in my life,” and that other people don’t get to choose who those people are. “It’s nice to have people who understand what I do,” Brown wrote in conclusion. “Now get back to talking about real problems in this world other than my friendships . . . jeez.”
Online denizens, despite Brown’s request for them to kindly butt out of her life, still weighed in on the matter.
For his part, Drake has largely remained mum. Lyrics from a song he recently released, however, have many wondering if he’s sneakily commented on the controversy. “Michael Jackson [expletive], but the palace is not for kids / Still women sayin’ it’s childish the way we live,” read the lyrics in question. Beyond that, Drake hasn’t said a word.