People Are Horrified After Gaten Matarazzo Revealed That A Woman In Her 40s “Doubled Down” As She Admitted To Having A Crush On Him Since He Was 13 Years Old
When Stranger Things first hit Netflix all the way back in 2016, the young cast of child actors immediately skyrocketed to fame.
The series premiered in July 2016, and at the time, Noah Schnapp was just 11 years old, Millie Bobby Brown was 12, Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarazzo were 13, and Caleb McLaughlin was the oldest at 14.
The fivesome have subsequently grown up under the glare of the public eye, which has at times exposed a seriously dark side to child fame.
Millie has undeniably bared the brunt of just how sinister being a minor in the spotlight can be, with the star acknowledging in 2022 that she has been sexualized “forever.”
In fact, shortly before she turned 18 earlier that same year, people were horrified to learn that “NSFW” countdowns to her becoming a legal adult were emerging online, and the photos that she posted on Instagram to mark her big day were flooded with sexually explicit comments and lewd emojis.
Speaking during an appearance on the Guilty Feminist podcast just weeks later, Millie told the hosts: “It’s a very good representation of what’s going on in the world and how young girls are sexualized. I have been dealing with that — but I have also been dealing with that forever.”
Millie’s experience is sadly nothing new, with the sexualization of female child stars being well-documented over the decades, with Natalie Portman, Emma Watson, and Mara Wilson among the actors to have spoken out against their experience as minors in the industry.
But this does not by any means suggest that male child actors are exempt from this problematic treatment, and Millie’s costar Gaten opened up about his own troubling experience in a recent podcast appearance.
Speaking on Tuesday’s episode of Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, Gaten was asked if he had any “funny stories about meeting fans,” to which the now-21-year-old actor replied: “Funny’s a way to say it, there are some that are a little uncomfortable.”
“I did one very, very recently… This is not very funny, but the reactions around it were quite funny where this, like, woman in her 40s, she said straight up: ‘I’ve had a crush on you since you were 13,’” Gaten recalled.
“And I was like: ‘That’s upsetting,’ and I was like, I’m sure she just meant: ‘Awh, this kid’s cute,’ but then she doubled down,” he continued. “Like: ‘I’m aware of the age difference,’ then I was like: ‘…Alright.’”
“Her daughter was with her,” Gaten went on. “And her daughter goes: ‘Mom, what the fuck?!’ I swear to god, this girl must have been about 13.”
When asked if the daughter’s response made him laugh in the moment, Gaten admitted that he purposefully held back his laughter, adding: “I couldn’t; I was like: ‘Thank you guys for coming!’ My mom was right there, my mother was sitting next to me. That was insane.”
Gaten also revealed that he regularly has fans grab his butt while posing for photos at conventions.
Needless to say, Gaten’s comments have struck a chord with people, who reflected on what he had said on a Reddit forum.
“I hope the stranger things kids are able to move on and have peaceful and happy adult careers,” one person wrote. “They went through some real crazy shit being on stranger things and the way they were treated by adult fans is truly mind blowing.”
Another added: “The Stranger Things kids have had to deal with so much creepiness from grown ass adults.”
Somebody else recalled: “The way some of these ‘fans’ use to talk about the ST KIDS was extremely disturbing. I hope they’re all okay.”
Meanwhile, Gaten admitted elsewhere in the podcast that he has completely accepted the fact that Stranger Things will probably be the biggest project he ever works on, and what he will always be remembered for.
“I would like the people in my team, my managers and agents, to understand that I’m very OK with understanding that Stranger Things will beyond very likely be the biggest thing I will ever do, and will most likely be the thing that I’m remembered for,” he explained. “Even if I consistently work after this.”
“And I’m so cool with that,” Gaten quickly added. “As long as it facilitates happiness going forward, security, and more work going forward, what the hell else can I ask for? I don’t want to maintain a sense of relevancy at this point when I can focus my time and effort on things I actually like doing, and I can use this to make myself happy. What the hell else would I want to do?"
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