Actor Caleb McLaughlin, 20, who stars as Lucas Sinclair in the Netflix hit series, Stranger Things, has spoken out about feeling like the "least favourite" at fan events due to racism – something he said began to "take a toll" on his mental health.
Speaking at the Heroes Comic Con convention in Belgium recently, Caleb shared that at previous events, he noticed the queue for his meet and greets were a lot shorter than those for his co-stars', despite also playing a key character.
A video of him speaking out was posted by a fan on Twitter, who wrote: "Here's Caleb talking about how he had to deal with racism just because he was "the black kid who was mean to eleven in season 1" and felt like it was important to share his thoughts on that."
"My very first Comic-Con, some people didn't stand in my line because I was Black," Caleb said, adding that it prompted him to ask his parents why he was the "least favourite" despite being "on the same show as everybody".
In response, Caleb says, his parents told him, "My parents had to be like 'It's a sad truth, but it's because you're the Black child on the show'. Because I was born with this beautiful chocolate skin, I'm not loved."
"Even now some people don't follow me or don't support me because I'm Black," he continued. "Sometimes overseas you feel the racism, you feel the bigotry. Sometimes it's hard to talk about and for people to understand, but when I was younger it definitely affected me a lot."
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The actor also added that some fans had suggested people were less keen to chat with him due to his character Lucas "being mean" to Millie Bobby Brown's character, Eleven, in season one.
Thankfully, Caleb said despite these negative experiences, he's only all the more determined to remain positive and use his platform to spread joy. "With my platform I want to spread positivity and love," he said. "Because I do not give hate back to people who give hate to me."
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
