Parody Account Trolls 'Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown and Noah Schnapp, 'LGBBQ' Trends on 'X'

A parody pop news account is going viral for its inflammatory claim that Millie Bobby Brown calls gay cast mate, Noah Schnapp, an "LGBBQ" and jokes about setting him on fire.

The satirical account Drop Top, which boasts slightly more than 20,000 followers on 'X,' formerly Twitter, revived a formerly popular meme format where 'Stranger Things' actress Millie Bobby Brown is fictitiously depicted as homophobic. Within just over twelve hours of being posted, the fake story has more than 16 million views and the term "LGBBQ" became a trending topic.

Unfortunately, many users are not aware that Drop Top is a parody site and are repeating the story without any disclaimer, leading to a range of earnest reactions to the misinformation.

Schnapp, 20, came out as gay in a TikTok last year, inspired by his 'Stranger Things' character Will Byers, whose sexuality became a focus in later seasons of the series. Co-star and bestie, Brown, happened to be one of the first people he came out to, he told 'Variety.'

"I just FaceTimed her one day in the middle of a Party City and I was like, 'Millie, I'm gay.' And she was like, 'Oh, Schnapper! You told me finally!' " Schnapp recounted.

The meme trend of inventing far-fetched behavior or phrases attributed to Brown began in 2017 with an absurd statement from a now-deleted account. @Kelsfiona, whose avi depicted a young white woman with shoulder length blonde hair, claimed Brown pulled her hijab off her head and stamped on it at an airport.

Shortly afterward, an equally outlandish story where Brown was depicted as violent and homophobic spawned the tag #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown, a slew of offensive homophobic memes, and Brown deleting her account for a period of time in 2018.

Neither Brown, 20, nor Schnapp have commented on the latest meme.

Tags

Stranger Things, Social media, LGBTQ, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp