Stranger Things is one of the most popular shows on the planet at the moment. While the mind-boggling storylines take most of the credit for the show’s popularity, you can’t deny that the ensemble cast plays a significant role as well. Actors like Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, and more were very young when they started filming Stranger Things which is all the more reason to applaud them for their brilliant work and talent.
However, being a young actor in the industry does not always mean rainbows and butterflies. For example, when Finn Wolfhard was only fourteen years old, he had to face an extremely distasteful comment disguised as a joke by comedian Patton Oswalt. Luckily, his fellow co-actors were right there to let Finn Wolfhard know that they’ve got his back.
Joe Keery and David Harbour React to the “Joke” on Finn Wolfhard
Patton Oswalt had the responsibility of introducing the cast of Stranger Things at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con. While everything was going pretty smoothly, things took a weird turn when fourteen-year-old Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler) walked onto stage and Oswalt made an inappropriate joke about the actor’s name.
Oswalt joked,
Finn Wolfhard – an actor born with the greatest p-rn name ever.
While Wolfhard seemed to be a little flustered thanks to the joke, he took it like a champ. He retorted with, “Thanks! Puts a great thing on my future.” The joke should have ended there, Oswalt unfortunately kept going in for more which made fans even more uncomfortable.
Wolfhard could be heard saying, “Introduce the next guest, huh?” as Oswalt further joked, “Get a good agent please. You’re allowed to say no to things, okay? Just don’t do anything called Stranger Thongs.”
When the joke finally dies down, you can see Joe Keery (Steve Harrington) and David Harbour (Jim Hopper) made sure to check in on their young co-star. Both actors seemed to be telling Wolfhard to ignore the comedian’s comments as you can clearly see in this clip below:
It was good seeing Harbour and Keery make sure that Wolfhard knew they were there for him.
Fans React to the Joke and Patton Oswalt Apologizes
Needless to say, after the moment from the Comic-Con went viral, Oswalt found himself on the receiving end of backlash for his comments. Fans of Stranger Things and just people in general couldn’t believe how an adult could make such a distasteful joke towards a child.
Whether it was Twitter, Reddit, or Instagram, people voiced their disapproval of Oswalt’s joke.
Here are some of the things they had to say about it all in the clip shown above,
@AA-qb7ni – He was a kid. That’s so inappropriate wtf.
@tierneytellsstories – The sh-t child actors have to go through in the Hollywood industry. Im glad to see when older actors try to protect them.
@Sickest.awesome.manever – I love how Joe and David instantly noticed that’s extremely inappropriate. Poor Finn.
@finnay9637 – Why the hell would someone. A grown man say something so disgusting to a young child.
@Ramonthetram – David and Joe both looked like they were fighting the urge to go and dive tackle that guy.
On X, the then-Twitter, Oswalt replied to a tweet asking why the joke happened in the first place. The comedian stated that it happened because he thought he was funny when he was just being rude. He added that he has since apologized for the mistake.
WHY did it happen? ‘Cuz I thought I️ was being funny but was actually a graceless asshole. I’ve since apologized and, I hope, learned. https://t.co/FUDeHzanSg
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) November 7, 2017
Now, Wolfhard is twenty-one years old and will soon be seen reprising his role as Mike in the fifth and last season of Stranger Things which will be released next year.
You can stream Stranger Things on Netflix.
