Millie Bobby Brown's parents Robert Brown and Kelly Brown's support of the former child star's career, from when she was a toddler singing show tunes around the house to her big break in "Stranger Things," has not been without scandal.
Robert and Kelly Brown, the parents of Millie Bobby Brown, took a significant financial risk to relocate their family to Los Angeles; a move that left them broke, living with a family member in the UK within a few years.
The parents were reportedly aware of their underage daughter living with a much older toxic boyfriend. They have four children.
Actress Millie Bobby Brown (center) and her parents attend The 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Cocktail Reception at The Shrine Auditorium, on January 29, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. | Source: Getty Images
Millie's Parents Gave up Their Life in the UK for the Sake of Her Career
Kelly Brown discovered she was pregnant for the third time with real estate agent husband Robert Brown in 2003, just as they set out to relocate their family from the UK to Spain, where the couple ran a restaurant. Millie Bobby Brown was born in Marbella, Spain, on February 19, 2004.
Her dad appreciated the performer in his younger daughter from an early age. She skipped the cartoons her older siblings, Paige and Charlie, enjoyed in favor of musicals like "Annie," "Chicago," and "Moulin Rouge," belting out the songs around the house.
The Brown family moved back to the UK when Millie was 4. The "drama queen" was in many school plays in Bournemouth, England. When the "Enola Holmes" actress was eight, the family, now joined by baby Eva Brown, moved across the Atlantic to set up a teeth whitening business in Florida.
Robert Brown (L) and actress Millie Brown attend the 2014 BAFTA Los Angeles TV Tea at SLS Hotel, on August 23, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. | Source: Getty Images
One Saturday, when Millie was "annoying" her father, Robert set out to find her "something fun to do." She was enrolled in a weekend stage school where she was kept busy with singing, acting, and dancing classes for four hours each Saturday. After a showcase, an agent advised the Browns to move to Hollywood.
Robert said his 12-year-old daughter mustn't "feel under pressure..."
A friend of Robert orchestrated a meeting with Hollywood agent Melanie Greene who saw the raw talent in the budding starlet. Greene fronted the Browns money as they had sold everything to pursue Millie's acting career.
Actress Millie Brown speaks onstage at the "Intruders" panel during the 2014 Summer Television Critics Association, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, on July 9, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. | Source: Getty Images
Early successes, like landing the role of young Alice in two episodes of "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" in 2013 and a plump part in the British series "Intruders" in 2014, were a small comfort for the family who did not have an easy transition. Millie says:
"My older sister left. She didn't want to do it [in America] anymore. It was tears, tears, tears. We went through tough times."
With only two guest-starring roles in "Modern Family" and "Grey's Anatomy" in 2015 and a bit part in "NCIS" in 2014, the family was close to bankruptcy and moved back to the UK in the summer of 2015. Millie was "devastated" but kept auditioning in England, where they lived with an aunt.
Millie Bobby Brown (center) with her dad Robert Brown, and her sister, Paige Brown, at the Netflix “Enola Holmes 2” premiere on October 27, 2022, in New York City. | Source: Getty Images
Coming from a place of actual vulnerability, Millie hit her "Stranger Things" audition "out of the park." The Brown clan was back in the US before the end of 2015.
The first season of the Duffer Brothers' Netflix show was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. In an interview with Daily Mail in 2016, Robert said his 12-year-old daughter mustn't "feel under pressure:"
"She's a kid. She has to do her homework and chores. Everything else is a bonus."
Millie Bobby Brown and Robert Brown attend the 2018 Time 100 Gala at Jazz, at Lincoln Center, on April 24, 2018 in New York City. | Source: Getty Images
Millie's Father Was Involved in a Controversy over Demanding Money from Agents
Robert joined the ranks of George Francis Temple, Shirley Temple's dad, as a demanding stage father. The Hollywood Reporter revealed in October 2016 that the elder Brown demanded an "unorthodox" fee of $100,000 upfront from talent agents.
Talent agents customarily take a 10 percent commission of their clients' income, but some reduce this percentage to incentivize in-demand talent like Millie. In the UK, payment from representation in the sports world is a common practice, where Robert reportedly has contacts.
The Browns' representation confirmed that Robert had requested a signing bonus on "ill advice from someone outside the industry that was said in jest."
Millie Bobby Brown attends the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum, on August 27, 2017, in Inglewood, California. | Source: Getty Images
Brown's Parents Allegedly Knew about Her Relationship with an Older Guy
Hunter Ecimovic, aka Hunter Echo on TikTok, claims to have been drunk when he went on Instagram Live in 2021 to graphically describe his sexual relationship with Millie, boasting that he had "groomed" her.
The actress was 16 when she started dating the 20-year-old TikToker. The age of consent in California is 18. Ecimovic refused to apologize for the comments in a later video, insisting that her parents knew about the relationship and that the former couple had lived together for eight months.
In mid-2022, Millie spoke out about the "unhealthy situation," saying she ended the relationship with Ecimovic in 2021. The fallout led to her deactivating her social media.
British actress Millie Bobby Brown (L) and Jake Bongiovi attend the "Stranger Things" season 4 premiere, in New York City, on May 14, 2022. | Source: Getty Images
The actress was traumatized by the negative attention the TikTok star's revelations sent her way on social media, including NSFW messages from grown men when she was a minor.
In 2022, the 18-year-old actress started dating the age-appropriate son of rock star Jon Bon Jovi, Jake Bongiovi, who is two years her senior. There have been previous concerns about an older star's presence in her life in her early teens.
Millie Bobby Brown and Drake attend the Netflix Golden Globes after party at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, on January 7, 2018, in Beverly Hills, California. | Source: Getty Images
During a 2018 Emmys red carpet interview, Millie, then 14, name-dropped a famous friend, the 31-year-old Candian rapper Drake. She said the "Hotline Bling" star texted her advice about boys, and he had messaged her that he missed her.
The Brit shot down concerns about grooming in the resulting backlash, calling people weird for seeing ill intent in a teen's friendship with a grown man. They met backstage at his gig in Australia in November 2017, and the unlikely friends were snapped at a Golden Globes afterparty in January 2018.
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