{"id":515607,"date":"2026-06-03T00:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/515607\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T00:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:27:12","slug":"queer-eye-karamo-brown-breaks-silence-on-final-season-press-relapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/515607\/","title":{"rendered":"Queer Eye Karamo Brown Breaks Silence on Final Season Press, Relapse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tQueer Eye<\/a> star Karamo Brown<\/a> is opening up on why he skipped press appearances for the final season<\/a> of the hit Netflix<\/a> show and shares more about his rough experiences filming the reality TV<\/a> series, including relapsing during the show\u2019s third season and his mom overhearing others badmouthing him on set.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn January, Brown pulled out of appearances<\/a> on CBS Mornings and Today with the rest of the Fab Five (Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France and Jeremiah Brent), doing so at the last minute and merely releasing the following statement: \u201cI hope everyone remembers the main theme I have tried to teach them over the past decade, which is to focus on and protect their mental health\/peace from people or a world who seek to destroy it; which is why I can\u2019t be there today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdditionally, Brown\u2019s assistant told CBS Mornings and Today, respectively, that he was \u201cworried about being bullied\u201d and had \u201cfelt mentally and emotionally abused for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNow, Brown tells People in a cover story<\/a> that he and his co-stars \u201chad always come together because of the fans, but because of the work I\u2019d done on myself, I asked, \u2018If I stay quiet right now and pretend I\u2019m sick or something, whose peace am I protecting?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd he continues to argue he dealt with toxicity with his costars, made worse by bullying and unchecked bad behavior he alleges he experienced from execs and members of the production.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEveryone would just say, \u2018Well, that\u2019s just that person,\u2019 instead of saying, \u2018This behavior does not fly in a professional environment,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cIt impacted me negatively, consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tQueer Eye production company ITV America and Scout Productions disagreed in a statement with Brown\u2019s suggestion that concerns were dismissed or overlooked and affirmed that the production aimed to create a \u201crespectful and professional environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe strongly disagree with any characterization that concerns raised during the production of Queer Eye were ignored, dismissed or allowed to continue unchecked,\u201d the statement reads. \u201cThroughout the series\u2019 run, any issues brought to production leadership were taken seriously and addressed appropriately. Production consistently fostered a respectful and professional environment for the cast and crew \u2014 which included ongoing training, coaching and other support for the cast \u2014 maintaining clear workplace policies and practices throughout filming. We remain incredibly proud of Queer Eye\u2018s lasting impact and the community the series helped build over more than 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBrown argues that he and his co-stars, including original star Bobby Berk who was replaced by Brent in 2024, first became divided after a sexual harassment complaint was filed against Brown in the first few weeks of filming. He claims an unnamed member of the Fab Five and he had a \u201cfun and flirty\u201d relationship during casting. He initially accused his co-star of filing the complaint. He later learned it came from an anonymous third party and explained that he was cleared of any wrongdoing. A source inside production disputed to People how Brown characterized what happened but says an investigation was conducted and \u201call parties wanted to move on with the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, Brown recalls a senior leader telling him in the show\u2019s early days, \u201cYou are not a star. I will get rid of you tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMultiple sources told People that Brown had particularly tense relationships with France and Van Ness, who previously said that a Rolling Stone expos\u00e9<\/a> about him being emotionally abusive was \u201cnot really based in reality.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tBrown and Van Ness haven\u2019t spoken, but Brown speaks highly of his former co-star.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe work I have seen Jonathan pouring into himself is commendable and inspiring,\u201d he says. \u201cGrowth isn\u2019t always public-facing, but I respect him for how he\u2019s currently moving through life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBrown also admits sometimes, \u201cI was hurt and would lash back out. I recognize my part and how things I did impacted people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe also talks to People about how he relapsed in 2018, during the show\u2019s third season, after 12 years of sobriety.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA drink would lead to weed, cocaine, pills,\u201d he says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t coping right, but I pretended like I was. I was so broken.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe says he\u2019s now sober again, telling People, \u201cI\u2019ve not had a single drink, cocktail \u2014 nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBrown also confirms what was reported by TMZ<\/a> shortly after he backed out of the Queer Eye press appearances, that his mom overheard his co-stars badmouthing him when she visited the set in 2025.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe thing I know is the tears I saw in my mother\u2019s eyes,\u201d he says. \u201c[She kept repeating], \u2018I thought they were your friends.\u2019 It made me realize I can no longer stay silent about how often I was made to feel like an outsider.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHis former co-stars didn\u2019t respond to People\u2018s requests for comment, but Brown is hoping they can resolve any issues.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think we all deserve a bit of grace for how we handled ourselves and one another,\u201d he says. \u201cWe were\u00a0just doing our best. It may not have felt like that in the moment, but it\u2019s very clear to me now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queer Eye star Karamo Brown is opening up on why he skipped press appearances for the final season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,117,19,17,147071,127,147070,1445,128],"class_list":["post-515607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-karamo-brown","tag-netflix","tag-queer-eye","tag-reality-tv","tag-tv"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116683345054111700","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}