Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard was involved in a spot of controversy last week when a
27-year-old model made suggestive comments about the underage actor. The 14-year-old who plays Mike in the series caught the attention of 27-year-old American fashion model, Ali Michael.
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Michael shared a picture of Wolfhard on her Instagram story to her 245 thousand followers, saying “Not to be weird but hit me up in 4 years @finnwoldhardofficial.”
The post caused an outrage of backlash, with people criticising her for sexualising the 14-year-old and it making headlines. It comes at a particularly turbulent time in Hollywood in regards to sexual assault, something that Wolfhard has already been confronted with when
choosing to quit his talent agency after sexual assault claims were made against his agent.
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Michael since released an apology, saying "The nature of my posts in response to television and media are always tongue-in-cheek and never intended to mislead or upset anyone." The model said that she's previously made posts asking fictitious characters from film to "call her", specifically naming Edward Scissorhands and The Lion King's Simba.
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And now, Wolfhard has spoken out about the incident for the first time. He was approached by TMZ while at the airport who berated the young star about the model 14 years his senior and her lewd social media post.
“Oh, that was nuts,” he said. “That was gross.”
Looking around himself, the 14-year-old clearly was uncomfortable talking about the incident. He went on: “That’s good that she apologised. It’s weird, but…”
When the reporter urged him on to confirm that he thought it was "weird", he said: “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. It’s fine.”
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Neither Wolfhard nor his representatives made a statement about the incident last week, so this impromptu interview comes as the actor's first official response.
His comments have sparked new conversations about the story, and people took to Twitter to vent their anger about people sexualising teenagers.
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People also attacked TMZ for pouncing on the actor while at the airport and probing him for comments on the situation.
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Michael's full apology was published in Teen Vogue last week, where she acknowledged: "asking a character 'to call in four years' and inappropriately tagging the underage actor who plays the character (Mike) was upsetting, suggestive and concerning for my audience.”
"The general nature of my social media platforms is often one of humour, sarcasm and playful self-deprecation. I often quote, post and publicly respond to music videos, films, documentaries and television shows in a frank and candid manner."
“It was never my intention (nor has it ever been) to sexualise a minor in any way shape or form. To those I offended or misled, I apologise for a post made in haste and lacking in sensitivity, particularly considering the landscape of the present culture.”
The teenager was clearly uncomfortable about the whole thing, and many people are furious about how he has been victimised. Even if it was "tongue-in-cheek" and meant as a joke, the comments from Michael were inappropriate and set a bad example.
