14-year-old 'Stranger Things' star Finn Wolfhard swiftly fired agent who was accused of sexual assault

Trigger warning: This story contains details of sexual assault that some readers may find distressing.

Finn Wolfhard's rise to international fame was almost overnight. One day he was a relatively unknown 13-year-old kid from Canada and the next, he woke up to a flood of messages on social media as the popularity of "Stranger Things" made him one of the most recognizable young actors in the world. Despite beginning his career at the young age of 11, Wolfhard has displayed an impressive ability to keep himself grounded. Even with over 20 million followers on Instagram, the "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" star refuses to get caught up in the hype and only uses his social media clout for anything more than the requisite publicity posts.

"I learned after the fact how many people love him, how huge he is, how many followers he has—things I have no awareness of because I'm a fossil," Wolfhard's "Afterlife" co-star Paul Rudd told The Washington Post about the 18-year-old. "Working with him, you would never know that. There's nothing pretentious or high and mighty about him. He's just a cool kid." Speaking to the publication in a recent interview, Wolfhard admitted that unlike most of his peers—and those before him—it isn't the notion of what his life could have been if he wasn't famous that troubles him the most. Instead, he wrestles with why he never gave himself the space to want typical teenage experiences.

Instead, at age 14, Wolfhard was dealing with some serious public issues. The actor revealed that in October 2017, he fired his then-agent, Tyler Grasham, after several other young male actors made allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Wolfhard was among the first clients to take concrete action against Grasham. He swiftly left the agency, a decision he now says was an easy one.

"He was abusing his power. When it comes to something like that, you can't be personal, like, 'Yeah, but I've met him and he's really nice.' When something incredibly serious and awful like that comes out, there's no going back," Wolfhard said. "When I found that out, I was like, 'Oh, absolutely fire him. That's insane.' I felt so terrible for the people who were harmed by this person." The accusations against Grasham were ultimately dismissed, and he continues to work in the industry. According to Los Angeles Times, a Los Angeles County district attorney's report showed that the accusers—who alleged that Grasham raped or otherwise sexually abused them—were between the age of 15 and 20 when they were alleged to have been sexually abused by the 52-year-old.

One accuser said that he was only 15 in 1999 when Grasham "orally copulated" with him after a night of drinking at a party in the agent's house. The complainant told investigators he felt "pressured, awkward and forced" because of Grasham's age, and reported the alleged incident last November after seeing others come forward with accusations against the agent. Another accuser said that he was 17 when Grasham, his agent, took him out to dinner one night in 2000. The said accuser spent the night at Grasham's home after becoming intoxicated and woke up to being penetrated by the agent. According to the district attorney's report, the alleged victim said he "told [Grasham] to stop and tried to push him off, but was unable to do so." Prosecutors cited an expired statute of limitations in these two cases and insufficient evidence for felony charges in the others.