Millie Bobby Brown shuts down claims Jake Bongiovi doesn’t help with parenting duties

The actress defended her husband after online critics questioned his role during family outings

Millie Bobby Brown is pushing back against online criticism aimed at her husband, Jake Bongiovi, after some social media users claimed he does not do enough to help her while caring for their daughter.

Speaking on the Not Gonna Lie podcast, the Stranger Things star addressed comments about recent public outings where she was seen carrying luggage, bags and her child's car seat while Bongiovi walked beside her.

“I’m not gonna lie, when did women become incapable of holding their own bags, car seats and stuff?” Brown said. “People are like, ‘Your husband doesn’t hold a single thing.’ Because I’m three miles ahead. I have been planning this all night.”

The actress argued that the criticism contradicts messages about female independence and empowerment.

“We’re all about empowering girls and, ‘You got it’ and ‘You don’t need a man,’” she said. “But then when I’m like, ‘Ok, I can carry my own things,’ people are like, ‘Where’s your husband?’”

Brown insisted that her husband is supportive and that outsiders do not know the reality of their relationship.

“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 welcomed their daughter through adoption in 2025, more than a year after tying the knot in a private ceremony. Brown has frequently spoken about how much she has embraced motherhood, describing the experience as overwhelming in the best possible way.

She also praised the support system around her, including Bongiovi, her mother Kelly Brown and mother-in-law Dorothea Hurley.

Brown and Bongiovi first sparked romance rumors in 2021 before getting engaged in 2023 and marrying in 2024.