Millie Bobby Brown Says Public Scrutiny Has 'Resulted in Pain' and 'Insecurity' on 16th Birthday

Millie Bobby Brown shared a special message with her fans, critics, and the media on her 16th birthday.

She took to Instagram to discuss kindness with her followers. In her post, Brown opened up about how being in the public eye hasn’t always been a picnic. “ya girls 16 :) 16 has felt like a long time coming,” she wrote. “i feel like change needs to happen for not only this generation but the next. our world needs kindness and support in order for us children to grow and succeed."

She continued, “the last few years haven't been easy, I'll admit that. there are moments i get frustrated from the inaccuracy, inappropriate comments, sexualization, and unnecessary insults that ultimately have resulted in pain and insecurity for me.” Brown went on to tell her followers that despite all the bad she won't "be defeated and added that she will “continue doing what i love and spreading the message in order to make change.”

In addition to her message, Brown shared a 2-minute video that was composed of the negative and hurtful headlines about her from the last few years, along with home videos. Justin Bieber’s song “Changes” accompanied the footage.

Back in January of 2019, the then-14-year-old actress was trolled for posting a photo of herself in a form-fitting dress on Instagram, where she asked her followers to “Write a caption.” Some of the comments told her to “act her age.” She responded by telling everyone to leave her alone: “If I choose to post that picture and you don’t like it... scroll past it,” she later wrote on her Instagram story.

In 2018, she infamously defended her and Drake’s friendship—which many critics deemed as inappropriate. “Why u gotta make a lovely friendship ur headline?” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “U guys are weird… For real.”