Being only 14 years old with such a huge spotlight on her, Millie Bobby Brown has had to grow up pretty fast—and that can be dangerous.
On the Emmys red carpet on Monday night, the Stranger Things actress told Access that she stays in touch with rapper Drake, 31. “We just texted each other the other day,” she said, “and he was like, ‘I miss you so much’ and I was like, ‘I miss you more!”
Millie also revealed that Drake gives her advice about teenage dating. When asked about what advice he gives her, she was reluctant to share specifics: “You know, that stays in the text messages.”
Maybe Millie’s relationship with Drake is innocent and I’m reading too much into this, but something about the situation rubs me the wrong way, especially that she doesn’t want to reveal any details. As much as teen girls would love to have close friendships or relationships with sweet, charismatic older men, there’s still a certain abnormality about the whole situation.
Fans on Twitter have been accusing Drake of “grooming” Millie, similarly to the way R Kelly acted as a mentor to underage girls, later guiding them according to his own sexual purposes.
It shouldn’t be up to underage girls to figure out when they’re being targeted with creepy behavior, and I don’t blame Millie at all for being swept away by how cool it is to have Drake as a friend. However, this shouldn’t change the fact that grown men being close with underage girls is never a good and normal thing.