Shady Rumors About Stranger Things' David Harbour We Can't Ignore

Netflix's "Stranger Things" has had a tight grasp on pop culture since its premiere in 2016. It was a refreshing comeback for many Hollywood icons, including Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine. But it also introduced viewers to a whole new set of future industry power players, like Millie Bobby Brown, Sadie Sink, and Finn Wolfhard. For David Harbour, his portrayal of Sheriff Jim Hopper on the series was the breakout role for which he'd been waiting for nearly two decades. 

Something you may have never known about Harbour is that the New York native accumulated small roles before his Netflix fame, including a cameo in the 2005 sleeper hit "Brokeback Mountain" and a part alongside the star-studded cast of the 2012 series "The Newsroom." Stepping into Hawkins, Indiana skyrocketed his fame to new heights, bringing not only the positive — a seat at the MCU table as the Marvel character, Alexei Shostakov, a.k.a. The Red Guardian — but also the negative — a perpetual plague of rumors. 

Harbour's separation from his wife, Lily Allen, was the catalyst for speculation about shady aspects of their relationship. Allen's October 2025 album, "West End Girl," only fanned the flames. Additionally, his relationships with his "Stranger Things" co-stars, one rumored to be toxic and another to be overly friendly, had tongues wagging all over the internet. Suffice it to say, Harbour has been weathering the rumor mill overtime. 

In September 2020, David Harbour tied the knot with British musician Lily Allen in an adorably kitschy Las Vegas wedding — equipped with an Elvis impersonator and a reception at In-N-Out Burger, as seen in Harbour's post on Instagram. Nearly five years later, however, the couple announced their shocking separation. It was a split that reportedly left Allen "devastated," a source shared with People. But it also left fans puzzled and wanting answers as to what happened. In October 2025, they seemingly got to the bottom of it.

Allen released an album called "West End Girl," which appeared to detail the disasters that plagued her marriage, including a rumored cheating scandal between Harbour and a co-worker. One song in particular, "Madeline," had listeners attempting to sniff out the reality behind her lyrics, which include phrases like, "We had an arrangement ... It had to be with strangers. But you're not a stranger, Madeline." In the song, Allen also hinted that she'd discovered Harbour's apparent affair after seeing texts between him and the pseudonymous Madeline.

After much speculation over who Madeline could be, the Daily Mail reported that it was Natalie Tippett, a costume designer who worked with Harbour on the 2021 Netflix film "We Have A Ghost." Tippett claimed to the outlet that she and the actor began their affair during shooting and continued it after they wrapped, with Harbour even flying Tippett to his Atlanta home. While Harbour didn't explicitly confirm that he was involved in extramarital ventures, he ambiguously told Esquire in November 2025 that he accepts his "slip-ups and the mistakes." Whether he was referring to his marriage is unclear.

After nearly 10 years and five seasons of "Stranger Things," one might assume that the cast has an unbreakable bond. In reality, tensions among cast members were rampant during filming of the final season. According to a source who spoke to the Daily Mail, Millie Bobby Brown — who played Eleven on the show — allegedly "filed a harassment and bullying claim before they started shooting the last season. There were pages and pages of accusations." The source added that Brown was accompanied by a "personal representative" throughout the shooting of Season 5. They also noted that the harassment complaint was not sexual in nature.

It was a shocking revelation for "Stranger Things" fans who previously believed that off-screen, Harbour and Brown fostered the kind of father-daughter relationship they had on the show. Scouring the internet for any signs of a contentious relationship, a few interviews with Brown resurfaced. During a panel at PaleyFest 2018, the "Enola Holmes" actor revealed that she and Harbour frequently fought on set. "We got angry at each other, we would express our feelings on and off the set," she said, adding that their interactions "were so raw and real that the reward is the scenes" (via Refinery29).

While their fighting sounded innocent enough, what really caught people's attention was Brown's 2024 interview with MTV. When the interviewer joked that the theme of her wedding to Jake Bongiovi could be "Stranger Things," Brown went along with the bit. But when he suggested Harbour as her officiant, Brown was hesitant to agree. "I don't know how I feel — sure," she said tentatively, before adding her own idea about who could preside over the ceremony. She suggested Matthew Modine, who did end up officiating the nuptials.

Amid the cheating allegations from Lily Allen, David Harbour seemingly convinced people that he'd already moved on — and with a woman all "Stranger Things" fans know and love. That's right, Harbour had purportedly fallen for his co-star, Winona Ryder. In his interview with Esquire, the actor laid bare his feelings about sharing the screen with Ryder. "I just feel so lucky to work with her. I have such a deep, deep love and respect for actors and what we do," he said, later adding, "I think that people who have done that at a level [of acting] where I believe them and fall in love with them in a fake reality, I just have such awe of it."

However, his words were taken out of context, with several headlines suggesting he was "in love" with the "Beetlejuice" star, without clarifying that he was referring to her character in the sci-fi series. Many took to social media to either condemn the idea of a romance between Ryder and Harbour or eagerly accept it. "Who wouldn't fall in love with Winona?" one user on TikTok wrote. Another asserted, "Winona is taken and is too good for him. He cheated on his wife and will cheat again." For the record, Ryder has been in a relationship with fashion designer Scott Mackinlay Hahn since 2011.

The truth about Harbour and Ryder's friendship is that it's seemingly just that — a friendship. However, Harbour has never been quiet about his deep admiration for Ryder, whom he cheekily called his "high school crush" in a 2017 interview with The Los Angeles Times. But, as of this writing, there is no concrete evidence that they are more than good friends and even better colleagues.