Did David Harbour Get Left Out Of The New ‘Stranger Things’ Trailer Because Of Lily Allen?

Good news: The Stranger Things season 5 trailer is officially here! While fans are sure to be obsessing over all the new scenes we’ve been given for the final showdown (remember, this is the series finale!), there’s one question that’s on our mind: Where the hell is Hopper?

The character, played by David Harbour, is mysteriously absent, aside from two quick peeks at the character standing next to Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven. While my first instinct was to wonder if the Stranger Things team wanted to conceal Hopper’s storyline to surprise viewers, another theory quickly emerged: Did David Harbour get cut from the trailer because of Lily Allen’s new album, West End Girl?

Allen’s album, which chronicles the devolution of her marriage to Harbour, accuses him of asking her to open their marriage, cheating on her, and altogether treating her badly. And let’s be clear: Allen does not hold back. She talks about speaking directly to his mistress, his wish to get a vasectomy, and finding… erm… toys and other damning objects in his apartment. It’s perhaps one of the most pointed and explicit takedowns of a past relationship. Naturally, it’s all the internet can talk about right now, and now that Allen has announced her new tour, I’m sure it’s going to keep getting traction.

To test my theory, I went back to the Stranger Things season 5 teaser trailer that dropped a few months ago. Lo and behold, David Harbour’s fingerprints were all over it—not only was he in a good number of scenes, but he even scored his own voiceover.

So it appears that Harbour’s absence from the official trailer has less to do with the story and more to do with recent events. Which leads me to wonder: What poor video editor had to stay late at work this week to re-edit the entire trailer in time for today’s drop? And did they get paid for overtime? And more importantly, will David Harbour’s public image actually change Hopper’s storyline in the season at all?

We have so many questions and so few answers, so for now, I guess all we can do is speculate.