Did Millie Bobby Brown really joke about setting Noah Schnapp on fire because he’s ‘LGBBQ?’ Troll post, debunked

On Dec. 12, 2024, a viral post from the Drop Pop on X claimed Schnapp, who is gay, said his bestie “repeatedly joked about setting him on fire and calling him an ‘LGBBQ.’” That acronym would stand for “Lesbian Gay Barbeque,” for the uninitiated.

Millie Bobby Brown never called Noah Schnapp “LGBBQ”

This is straight-up disinformation. It was posted by a satirical social media fashioned after similar pop culture news s on social media. While it shares a posting style, aesthetic, and lack of original reporting with those other viral s, the similarities end there.

Drop Pop, which has a purchased blue check on X, makes up stories for funsies, often with a sardonic slant aiming at celebrity culture. There is no source because it’s fiction. However, in an age where nobody looks past a headline and people are increasingly incapable of spotting satire, many people have fallen for it.

People keep making Millie Bobby Brown LGBTQ+ memes

This isn’t the first time a viral claim about the young actor has caused trouble. Brown reportedly left X in 2018 after an absurd meme that joked about her being homophobic surfaced. Some gay and straight fans found it humorous, while it made the star, who was just 14 years old at the time, uncomfortable enough to leave the platform.

Adults partaking in this weird overstep also posted doctored images taken from Brown’s Snapchat and added homophobic text to them. Images were then shared under the hashtag #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown. The trend eventually snowballed into further satire which falsely attributed racist statements to her.

The intention of the meme wasn’t to harm minorities — who actually did most of the posting — it was an attempt at edgy ironic humor. Nonetheless, it was inappropriate to use a child as the spearhead.

As Vox correspondent Alex Abad-Santos explained, “If you dig deeper, this is also a story about the internet’s deeply intertwined relationship with irony. It’s about a meme that only succeeds because of how absurd it is, how pristine Brown’s celebrity image is, and how outrage can drive the internet to be the worst version of itself.”

How to spot satire s

While satirical outlets like Reductress and The Onion are entertaining ways to get your daily snark quota, knowing how to identify satire s like Drop Pop so you don’t end up participating in bad-faith jokes is a good idea.

No sources

Even the likes of Pop Crave will typically link to a source in their posts or the thread underneath it. An that posts quotes or alleges events with no outlinks to refer you to is likely not credible. We’ve gotten used to people stating things as facts, which makes it all too easy for people to miss the joke when it comes to posts like these.

Popular targets

s like Drop Pop will pick out easy targets, such as a young actress who has already been hounded by similar jokes or her co-star who has made controversial 2024 headlines. Social media can be, and often is, a pile-on because that leads to more engagement. Schnapp’s zionist comments and his sexuality have made him a popular mark.

Winking at the camera

Trolls are skilled at using language that makes their satire obvious to those of us who know what to look for while still flying under the radar of untrained eyes. They realize that most people take information they see online at face value and don’t apply critical thinking.

However, a quick look at their will usually humble you if you missed the first red flags. Once you’ve tuned into the irony-laced absurdity, you’ll see the people running these s think and talk like teenage stan s.