The "Stranger Things" star -- who recently took down her TikTok page -- shared her experience with a fan who pushed past her boundaries on her Instagram Stories.
Millie Bobby Brown has seen the highs and lows of growing up in the spotlight, admitting in a recent Instagram Stories that even now she's "still trying to navigate this all and it's still overwhelming," per E! News.
But that doesn't give her fans the right to just blow past her personal space or her boundaries or her comfort level. There's such a things as respect, decency and just common courtesy that is sometimes lacking.
The 16-year-old "Stranger Things" star broke down in tears in a video posted Monday to her Instagram Stories about a fan encounter that violated all of her boundaries as apparently the word "no" was just not an acceptable choice.
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View StoryThe incident apparently happened when she was recognized while out shopping with her mother. A fan asked if she could take video of the actress, which Brown thought rather odd in itself.
"I said, ‘Um, no.' But why would anyone want to be taken a video of? Of me? It's not like of the both of us," she mused. A selfie or short video of the fan and Brown would at least make some sense. This was like some strange paparazzi request.
But the bottom line is that Brown wasn't interested at that time, and that should have been sufficient for the fan. Alas, it was not.
"I was paying and she walked past me and began to video me again," Brown continued. "And I said, ‘I'm a human being. Like, what more can I ask from you?'"
"She said 'So I can't take a video of a human being?' And I said, 'No, not when I said no.'"
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View StoryAt this point, Brown was visibly upset recalling the experience with tears in her eyes. "It just makes me upset when people try to push the boundary, and I just wish people were more respectful."
And while the fan probably thought it was a simple enough request, and no big deal as it didn't require Brown to do anything, Brown was nevertheless upset that she was asked and then her preference was blatantly and rather aggressively ignored.
"I don't need to justify it to anyone," she explained. "If I don't want to be taken a video of, I don't have to be."
Later in the video, she circled back to this, perhaps wondering if there was something about stardom she was missing, some lack of choice or control in her own life. "I'm still trying to navigate this all and it's still overwhelming," she admitted.
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View Story"I will take a picture with you but when you push the boundary and you try to fight me on it, where are my rights to say no?" she asked.
Ultimately, though, Brown wishes people could just "show more respect for others, no matter who they are, what they do." She summed it up concisely, "It's just manners."
Later, Brown returned to assure her fans that she was "totally fine now," admitting that she was "emotional in the moment because I felt uncomfortable and disrespected."
She concluded this unfortunate chapter with the message, "It is important to set your boundaries and to speak up. I love you guys. Be kind to one another!" You can check out her video and follow-up message captured in the Tweets below:
Millie Bobby Brown also posted this on her story adding “I am totally fine now. But was emotional in the moment because I felt uncomfortable and disrespected.” pic.twitter.com/VbZWudfBGa
— Def Noodles (@defnoodles) November 30, 2020 @defnoodles
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