Why one major 'Stranger Things' star was missing at the Season 2 premiere this week
One Stranger Things star was notably absent from Thursday's Season 2 premiere in Los Angeles.
British actor Charlie Heaton, who plays creepy photo stalker man Jonathan Byers in the Netflix series, was barred entry to the U.S. last Saturday.
The reason? A drug-sniffing dog reportedly picked up on something that prompted a search of Heaton's luggage, at which point authorities discovered "a small amount of cocaine," according to the Associated Press.
Heaton was neither arrested nor charged, but he was barred from entering the U.S. and promptly sent back to London. It's worth noting here that the AP's report comes via an anonymous source -- an official who "couldn't discuss the matter publicly."
A Friday night report from People contains the same information, via an unnamed law enforcement source. That story also includes a vague statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection which lays out the federal agency's rules for handling foreign nationals in violation of controlled substance laws.
It read: "A violation, conspiracy to violate or simply an attempt to violate any U.S. State, federal or any foreign government controlled substance violation renders a foreign national inadmissible to the United States."
Heaton hasn't yet made any public statements on the matter, though this would explain his absence from Thursday's premiere.
Topics Stranger Things Celebrities
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
