Millie Bobby Brown fires back at stroller backlash

Millie Bobby Brown defended her husband, Jake Bongiovi, after paparazzi photos sparked criticism online—arguing that women are capable of carrying their own bags, car seats, and pushing a stroller. In a June 11 episode of the “Not Gonna Lie” podcast, the 22-ye

On a trip photographed by paparazzi, Millie Bobby Brown looked like she was doing it all—carrying luggage and pushing a stroller without Jake Bongiovi stepping in.

That image, shared widely online, drew criticism on social media. Brown didn’t let it stand.

On the June 11 episode of the “Not Gonna Lie” podcast. the “Stranger Things” star. 22. slammed the backlash her 24-year-old husband received. She spoke directly to the idea that someone else—him—should have been doing the heavy lifting. telling host Kylie Kelce: “Hi. I’m Millie Bobby Brown. and I’m not gonna lie. when did women become incapable of holding their own bags. car seats and stuff?”.

“I can also do it on my own.”

Brown said the critiques were rooted in a simple claim that her husband “doesn’t hold a single thing.” She pushed back on that framing. saying she was already prepared: “People are like. ‘Your husband doesn’t hold a single thing.’ Because I’m three miles ahead. I have been planning this all night,” she said.

She added that the public messaging around empowerment doesn’t hold up in moments like these—when she’s both a young mother and the one carrying what needs carrying. “We’re all about empowering girls and. ‘You got it’ and ‘You don’t need a man.’ But then when I’m like. ‘OK. I can carry my own things. ’ people are like. ‘Where’s your husband?’” Brown said.

She also argued that critics are judging a relationship they don’t fully know. Brown described Bongiovi as “the most polite. sweet. will-do-anything-for-me” partner. then insisted the photos don’t capture how he shows up. “Nobody knows my husband,” she said. “But he also knows I’m capable” and “not broken.”.

The conversation quickly broadened beyond the stroller.

Brown condemned what she called “vicious and angry” shaming aimed at her becoming a mom at 21. “For everybody who was like, ‘Oh my God, a 21-year-old mom. Oh my gosh, how could she?’ I’m having the most amazing time,” she said. She compared the backlash to a shift in perception—“like going from black and white to color”—and framed her family as something she and Bongiovi choose to build together.

That message echoes how the couple has previously described their new chapter.

Brown and Bongiovi wrote in an Instagram post that “This summer. we welcomed our sweet baby girl through adoption.” In August. they confirmed the expansion of their family by sharing: “And then there were 3. ” in a joint Instagram post. In that same post. they said they were “beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy.”.

Brown has been open about the relationship timeline as well. She confirmed her relationship with the son of Bon Jovi frontman Jon Bon Jovi in 2021. In 2024, they married in a ceremony officiated by Brown’s “Stranger Things” costar Matthew Modine, who played Dr. Martin Brenner.

The facts of this story are now impossible to ignore: paparazzi photos triggered online backlash. Brown took the issue to her podcast platform on June 11. and she used that moment to push back on both assumptions about who should “carry” and the broader harshness directed at her for becoming a parent at 21.

Where the situation stands now is clear in the response: Brown is asking critics to stop reducing her partnership—and her parenting—to what a camera caught in one snapshot.

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