Stranger Things actor Priah Ferguson has addressed the internet rumors suggesting her co-star Winona Ryder ‘made her cry’.
The first three episodes of the popular sci-fi series were released on Netflix on Christmas Day (December 25), with the finale set to premiere shortly. Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of Stranger Things, provided fans with a significant hint and possible spoiler regarding the finale while discussing various fan theories.
As fans eagerly anticipate the New Year’s Eve finale, speculation has been circulating online about an alleged conflict between Ferguson and Ryder.
Recently, a misleading TikTok video falsely suggested that Ferguson overheard the Beetlejuice actress expressing a desire for fewer scenes with Ferguson due to her ‘revealing’ Instagram posts, ultimately causing Ferguson to cry.
This TikTok was edited from different clips, prompting Ferguson, who portrays Erica Sinclair in the Netflix series, to address the rumors on social media.
Under a video discussing the false feud, Ferguson commented: “This is not true! Winona is one of the kindest people I’ve met! It’s really sad that people will edit an interview of me that has no correlation to what this caption says.”
“Please leave Winona alone! I usually ignore stuff like this, but I’m not going to let anyone come for Ms. Winona.”
The actress also used her Instagram Stories to share a screenshot of her TikTok comment, explaining that ‘for whatever reason’ she couldn’t comment directly on the page to ‘address this issue’.
She reiterated her statement, emphasizing that the Girl, Interrupted star ‘has been one of the sweetest people’ she’s ever met and urged people to ‘please leave Ms. Winona alone’.
Ferguson traced the origins of the clip that showed her discussing crying, revealing it was from an interview with The Sit, where she recounted her first acting audition, unrelated to anything Ryder allegedly did on the Stranger Things set.
Continuing her social media response, Ferguson added in her Story: “I don’t like when people create false narratives to have someone innocent get dragged or bashed.”
She also replied to an Instagram comment inquiring about the rumor’s veracity, stating: “That’s not true. She never said that. Winona has been one of the kindest people I’ve ever met since I’ve been working in this industry. They twisted this narrative from an interview I did with The Sit.”
As of now, Ryder has not addressed the false claims.
Stranger Things season five Volumes 1 and 2 can be streamed on Netflix, with the highly-anticipated finale releasing on New Year’s Eve at 5pm PT/ 8pm ET, which will be in the early hours of New Year’s Day for European viewers.
Ryder’s representatives have been contacted for comment.