While appearing at the Heroes Comic Con in Belgium on September 25, the 20-year-old star revealed that he faced racism from certain Stranger Things fans because he was black.
He also stated that people would diss him because of his character, Lucas, who was mean to Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven on the show.
At the conference, McLaughlin said that all this affected him as a young actor who plays one of the lead characters in Stranger Things alongside Brown, Finn Wolfhard, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, and Charlie Heaton.
Fans defended Caleb McLaughlin on Twitter
After Caleb McLaughlin’s comments went viral online, several fans hailed the Stranger Things star for gathering the courage to talk about his heartbreaking experience. Others pointed out how he is not the only actor to talk about dealing with racism in this time and age.
Caleb McLaughlin reveals facing racism in public eye affected him
While speaking at the Heroes Comic Con Belgium convention, Caleb McLaughlin stated that racism “took a toll” on him as a young actor and black kid.
Sitting on the panel, he said:
He added that all these experiences would make him question his self-worth, wondering:
It was then when his parents intervened and explained the situation to him.
Caleb appeared on the first season of Stranger Things at the age of 14 as Lucas Sinclair. The series debuted in 2016 and made him and his teenage co-stars rise to prominence.
Caleb McLaughlin is one of the many actors who have spoken up about experiencing racism from toxic fans. In May 2022, Moses Ingram from Obi-Wan Kenobi revealed that she received harassment messages from fans after her series was released on Disney+.
Moreover, Halle Bailey from The Little Mermaid and Steve Toussaint from House of the Dragon have also publicly spoken about getting racist messages from certain fans.
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