The two’s friendship drew criticism over their significant age gap.
Five years after fans criticized the friendship between Drake and Millie Bobby Brown over their significant age gap of 17 years—plus the fact that Brown was 14 years old at the time—the Canadian rapper finally responded to the backlash.
Drake wrote about the issue in his song “Another Late Night” from his new album For All The Dogs, which released on Friday, Oct. 6, calling out those who criticized the friendship as “weirdos.”
The 36-year-old raps, “Weirdos in my comments talkin’ ’bout some Millie Bobby, look / Bring them jokes up to the gang, we get to really flockin’ / Or send a finger to your mama in some FedEx boxes / Open up that s–t, it’s jaw droppin’, really shockin’.”
In 2018, Brown shared how the two first developed a friendship, telling Access Hollywood, “I met him in Australia. And he’s honestly so fantastic. And a great friend and a great role model, you know we text—we just texted each other the other day and he was like, ‘I miss you so much,’ and I was like, ‘I miss you more!'”
After the interview, many criticized their friendship, but Brown disagreed. She wrote on Instagram at the time, via E! News, “Why u gotta make a lovey friendship ur headline? U guys are weird… for real.”
“I’m lucky to have people in the business extend their time to help me further my career and offer their wisdom and guidance. I’m very blessed to have amazing people in my life. U don’t get to choose that for me,” she went on.
The Stranger Things actress, now 19, continued to denounce the backlash, concluding, “It’s nice to have people who understand what I do. Now get back to talking about real problems in this world other than my friendships… jeez.”
At the time, Drake didn’t respond to the pushback, but now, years later, it’s clear he used it as inspiration for his music.