Millie Bobby Brown defended Jake Bongiovi after online commenters decided that airport luggage logistics were now a referendum on modern marriage. The Stranger Things actor addressed the criticism during a June 10 appearance on the Not Gonna Lie podcast, pushing back on claims that her husband does not help her after the couple recently welcomed a baby.
Brown, 22, said the scrutiny began after recent outings showed her carrying suitcases, bags and a car seat while Bongiovi walked nearby without much in his hands. To some viewers, that apparently looked like evidence. To Brown, it looked like people missing the part where she is an adult with a plan.
Why Millie Bobby Brown called out the criticism
“I’m not gonna lie, when did women become incapable of holding their own bags, car seats and stuff?” Brown said on the podcast.
She explained that the comments came after people saw her carrying “all of my suitcases and bags and my kid” and accused Bongiovi of failing to carry anything. Brown said the reality was less dramatic.
“Because I’m three miles ahead,” she said. “I have been planning this all night.”
That detail matters because Brown framed the criticism as a double standard, not just a misunderstanding. Public conversations often praise women for being independent, she noted, but the reaction changes quickly when a woman is visibly doing things herself.
“We’re all about empowering girls and, ‘You got it’ and ‘You don’t need a man,’” Brown said. “But then when I’m like, ‘Ok, I can carry my own things,’ people are like, ‘Where’s your husband?’”
Her answer was direct: “I can do it on my own.”
What she said about Jake Bongiovi as a partner
Brown also rejected the broader claim that Bongiovi is not supportive. The actor made clear that clips and photos from public outings do not provide a full picture of their relationship, which is a shocking blow to the internet’s long-running belief that a few seconds of sidewalk footage can solve everything.
“Nobody knows my husband,” she said. “My husband is the most polite, sweet, will-do-anything-for-me. But he also knows I’m capable.”
The couple married before welcoming their child, and Brown has kept much of her family life private. That privacy has not stopped strangers from trying to fill in the blanks, especially now that she is adjusting to motherhood in public.
Her response was not a denial that support matters. It was a reminder that support does not always look like someone taking every bag out of her hands. In Brown’s telling, Bongiovi helps her while also respecting that she knows what she is doing.
How Brown has described motherhood
Brown has also spoken openly about the emotional shift of becoming a parent. During a June 1 conversation with UNICEF, she described the feeling as overwhelming in a way she struggled to put into words.
“People say they love their children,” Brown said. “I couldn’t, I don’t understand how that much happens in my heart. The feeling is so overwhelming. It’s just incomprehensible.”
The comment was a softer counterpoint to the podcast discussion. While her June 10 remarks focused on online assumptions and public judgment, her UNICEF comments got at the private emotional reality of parenting.
Brown also said she is not doing it alone. She pointed to support from Bongiovi, her mother Kelly Brown and her mother-in-law Dorothea Hurley.
“It’s so great, I’m so honored to have support,” she said. “It’s just so nice to hear reassurance.”
For Brown, that seems to be the central point: she has help, she values it and she also wants people to stop treating her competence as suspicious. Apparently, carrying your own bags can still become a public debate. Efficient? No. Very online? Unfortunately, yes.
