David Harbour’s PR Controversies: Experts Explain How They’d Handle It

At the star-studded premiere of “Stranger Things” season five last week, a simple hug made headlines.

What should’ve been a non-event — two of the Netflix hit’s stars, David Harbour and Millie Bobby Brown, embracing and laughing together in front of fans and cameras on the red carpet — instead inspired a slew of articles, attempted lip readings, and raised eyebrows online.

As Harbour’s first public appearance since rumors began circulating about a supposed on-set clash between him and Brown and the release of a scathing breakup album by Harbour’s ex Lily Allen, even the most banal return to the spotlight naturally became fodder for tabloid dissection.

Suddenly, the actor’s reputation was in jeopardy at pivotal moment in his career — the long-awaited conclusion to the hit Netflix show that gave him his breakout role.

Neither of the unsavory narratives about Harbour have been confirmed as fact. The Daily Mail’s report alleging Brown filed internal complaints of harassment and bullying against Harbour comes from anonymous sources and has not been corroborated by other publications; no paper trail has been uncovered. Brown, Harbour, and Netflix have not addressed the story publicly.

The cast and crew’s unified front at the premiere seemed intended to defuse scrutiny. “Nothing matters more than just having a set where everyone feels safe and happy,” Ross Duffer, who co-created “Stranger Things” with his brother Matt Duffer, told The Hollywood Reporter. Director Shawn Levy, for his part, told the magazine that many of the stories he’s read are “wildly inaccurate.”

Representatives for Harbour, Brown, and Netflix didn’t respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment.

Regarding Harbour’s marriage to Allen, neither party has publicly clarified the cause of their split. Although the lyrics in Allen’s “West End Girl” paint her ex-husband as a liar and possible sex addict (her words, not mine!) she has characterized the album as autofiction, not autobiography. “I don’t think I could say it’s all true,” she told The Sunday Times. “I have artistic license.”

But in show business, it’s rarely what actually happened that matters. It’s about which narrative wins, how it shifts the public’s perception — and, of course, what that narrative means for a celebrity’s bankability.

“David Harbour is in a tricky situation,” Mitchell Jackson, a crisis PR expert and founder of BCC Communications, told me. “He relies on squeamish corporations to give him work.”

What’s a man to do?

Harbour rose to fame in a fan-favorite role, which is creating cognitive dissonance

For nearly a decade, Harbour has charmed “Stranger Things” fans as Jim Hopper, the gruff local police chief with a heart of gold who forms a special bond with and ultimately adopts Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), an orphan with psychokinetic abilities.

Although Harbour has gone on to star in films like “Hellboy” and multiple Marvel blockbusters including “Black Widow” and “Thunderbolts* as the superhero Red Guardian, Hopper remains his most beloved role. It’s the one that’s inspired fans to go fully parasocial, calling him “the ultimate daddy“ and “the father I wish I had.”

In 2023, Harbour told Business Insider that he’d grown weary of the constant association between himself and the character.

“I do love the show. And I do love the character,” Harbour said. “But I don’t want to be just that character. I don’t want to be just that guy.”

That association with his heroic, Demogorgon-slaying alter-ego is what’s amplifying the cognitive dissonance between his onscreen persona and the rumors that paint him as a bad coworker and a bad husband offscreen.

“If he was playing a robber, a criminal, a gangster, or whatever, then his offline behavior might actually help boost the show,” said Dr. Heidi Feldman, who teaches courses at Northeastern University about crisis communication and image management.

“But because he’s the wholesome father figure onscreen and he’s supposedly doing all this weird stuff [offscreen], then people might not want to watch him because it doesn’t resonate.”

Even the most absurd, unsubstantiated rumors can degrade a brand, Feldman said. It is Hollywood after all, where feelings and fantasies outshine reality.

That could also be a problem for Netflix if a lead actor’s personal drama overshadows the epic final season of a flagship series, one that reportedly cost the streamer between $50 to $60 million per episode to produce.

Harbour and his PR team are now tasked with repairing his image at the same time the “Stranger Things” cast has been tasked with promoting one of Netflix’s most valuable IPs.

It’s a delicate balancing act, and the experts I spoke to were divided on how they’d advise Harbour to move forward.

Option one: Pull back, then parry with humor

Jackson told me that if Harbour were his client, he would pull him from the “Stranger Things” press tour, which is in full swing ahead of the season five premiere on Nov. 26, and cancel any in-depth interviews. (So far, Harbour has indeed been absent from the “Stranger Things” press tour, but that could change as the premiere date approaches.)

“It’s too risky,” he said.

Instead, Jackson would have Harbour wait until public interest wanes, then send him on the late-night circuit, where the interviews are breezy and there are more opportunities for him to wield humor as a deflection device.

“He should go on some sort of comedy show where he can make fun of himself for being a bad boyfriend and a sex addict,” Jackson said.

By selectively admitting to certain morally grey behaviors, Jackson said, a celebrity can shift their image from villain to anti-hero, or at least, to a raw and messy human being.

“He’s essentially accused of being an asshole during an open relationship between two consenting adults,” Jackson added, referring to the details in Allen’s album. “These are two people. These are not two angels. He has a lot of wiggle room here.”

Appearing on a podcast with a sympathetic host — Jackson mentions Joe Rogan as an example — could also give Harbour an opportunity to share his side of the story and complicate the narrative.

“I think that making fun of the situation could be a way for him to pivot, then do an indie role after this,” Jackson said. “All is forgiven if you’re funny.”

Option two: ‘Throw him right in the storm’

Feldman disagreed with Jackson’s suggestion that Harbour should withdraw from the “Stranger Things” press blitz. In fact, she would advise Harbour to face the rumors head-on.

The longer a rumor goes unaddressed, Feldman reasoned, the more space it has to grow, fester, and exacerbate distrust.

“I would throw him right in the storm,” Feldman said. That way, she explained, Harbour would have the opportunity to either shut down the accusations that are wrong, or apologize for the ones that are right.

“A non-answer will get more attention, negative attention, than if he just says, ‘Yep, when you’re in the spotlight, your private life becomes public sometimes, and we recognize that. We’re really working hard on moving forward,'” she said. “That draws empathy. It’s professional. It’s not having a temper tantrum. It’s treating the situation as serious, but not the focus. And then he could say, ‘I’d love to talk more about this show.'”

Feldman said this strategy would give Harbour the upper hand in an interview and deflate the interviewer’s hope of catching him off-guard. It would also help to draw the attention back to his work, whereas ducking the press could simply encourage more speculation.

“It almost seems counterintuitive,” Feldman said. “But we look at case after case after case, and what you find is the more you try to resist a narrative, the more it’s going to come back and bite you in the butt. By acknowledging it in a timely manner, you can show your fan base and your potential employers — producers, directors, and everything — that you’re not actually what the press says. You’re a human and you make mistakes. And people will just forget about it.”

“This is a make it or break it moment,” she added. “And his team should know that and be prepared for it.”