Caleb McLaughlin recalls years of racism from Stranger Things fans

Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin is opening up about the racism he’s been subject to for years at the hand of the show’s fandom.

In the sci-fi coming-of-age series, Caleb plays Lucas Sinclair, the only Black male character of the main cast. While attending Heroes Comic Con in Belgium over the weekend, Caleb spoke candidly during a Q&A session about how he’s dealt with racist treatment from Stranger Things fans over the years. A video of Caleb sharing his experiences with the HCC crowd recently went viral.

“It definitely took a toll on me as a younger kid. My very first Comic Con, some people wouldn’t stand in my line because I was Black. Some people told me ‘Oh, I didn’t want to be in your line because you were mean to Eleven,'” Caleb said in the clip, referencing Lucas’s hesitance towards Eleven in the show’s first season. “Even now, some people don’t follow me or don’t support me because I’m Black.”

“Sometimes overseas like you’ll feel the racism, you feel the bigotry,” continued Caleb. “Sometimes it’s hard to talk about that and for people to understand. But when I was younger it definitely affected me a lot.”

Caleb, who is now 20 years old, was only 14 when Stranger Things debuted on Netflix in 2016. At that young age, Caleb shared that he had difficulty understanding why he was treated differently than his white co-stars.

“You’re like, ‘Why am I the least favourite? Why don’t I have followers? I’m on the same show as everybody from season one,'” he said. “But then my parents had to be like, ‘You know, it’s a sad truth, but it’s because you’re the Black child in the show.'”

As noted by People, Caleb currently has over 15 million followers on Instagram and is still the least-followed member of the main young cast on the platform. (For additional context: series star Millie Bobby Brown has 58.5M followers and Sadie Sink, who joined the main cast during season 2, has almost 25M.)