Millie Bobby Brown deletes her Twitter after becoming a homophobic meme

Millie Bobby Brown deletes her Twitter after becoming a homophobic meme

With its quirky sci-fi premise, Stranger Things took the world by storm in 2016. The standout stars, however, were the kids. Not only have their real-life counterparts earned a one-way ticket to superstardom, but their portrayal of the children even managed to outshine that of their adult co-stars. Millie Bobby Brown is now walking down runways in her spare time, and the rest of the young actors have secured roles in other productions since working on the Duffer Brothers' hit series.

However, not even the cutest bunch of kids in Hollywood can escape the internet trolls. After becoming the subject of a nauseating homophobic meme, Millie Bobby Brown - who is just 14-years-old - has chosen to deactivate her Twitter account.

The meme saw homophobic rhetoric and slurs photoshopped onto images of the Stranger Things actress. There were also clearly fake stories about her being homophobic, racist and ableist in real life, which featured the hashtag #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown. According to Yahoo, the hashtag first started making the rounds on Twitter last year, but it's more concerning now, given that its resurgence has coincided with Pride Month - a time which should be used to celebrate the LGBTQ community - not to tear down a 14-year-old girl who has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ rights.

"Millie Bobby Brown pretending to be a man on Grindr so she can lure gays into her torture basement," read one tweet, while another stated "Today, i went to target. i am blind and gay. i was walking around with my pride shirt when millie bobby brown came up to me. she said “kill all f*gs and spit in my mouth” and broke both of my legs. i am now unable to walk ever again.#TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown."

"I know it's morally questionable but the millie bobby brown being homophobic memes are so funny.. i highkey hate myself for loving it dkjfjsadjjsa," another social media user wrote on the matter.

Vulture reports that the meme was first shared by members of the LGBTQ community in an alleged attempt at satirical humour, it was then quickly adopted by mainstream social media. One tweet that many publications have cited as the beginning of the meme gave a fictional account of the actress forcibly removing a woman's hijab after she asked for a selfie.

Critics have accused the trolls of bullying Brown. One individual took to Twitter to assert, "Pretending millie bobby brown, a literal child, is a violent homophobe for memes is f*cking disgusting and not funny at all. You are grown adults, editing photos of her with captions that include the f slur, violence against lgbt community for comedy and it’s f*cking gross," while another corroborated "Unpopular opinion here but uhhhhh the homophobic millie bobby brown meme is f*cking disgusting."

Though the Stranger Things star is no longer on Twitter, she remains active on Instagram.

Here's hoping that the meme dies out quickly: not only does it wildly misinterpret things that Brown is known to stand for, but it's also a form of harassment.