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\n Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images\n <\/p>\n
The tenth and final season of Queer Eye<\/a> dropped on Netflix this week, with the gang taking to Washington, D.C., to reshape the lives of Justice Department employees with bad haircuts and low self-esteem. While this should be a celebratory and reflective time for the Queer Eye cast, their press tour was disrupted by drama on Tuesday when Karamo Brown (the culture expert) pulled out of two morning-show appearances at the last minute to the surprise of his castmates.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you see, we call it Fab Five, but one of the Fab Five is not here,\u201d Gayle King said during the Fab Five Four\u2019s CBS Mornings appearance. \u201cWe received word less than an hour ago that Karamo Brown is not going to be joining us.\u201d While Brown was not there in the physical sense, his assistant sent over a statement for King to read while his fellow cast members all held hands.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope everyone remembers the main theme I have tried to teach them over the past decade, which is to focus on and to 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 the statement read. King added that Brown\u2019s assistant said he was \u201cworried about being bullied.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Antoni Porowski, Queer Eye\u2019s cooking guy, told King\u00a0that saying they were surprised by Brown\u2019s absence would be an \u201cunderstatement\u201d but added that their group dynamic is not immune to difficulties. \u201cFamilies are complicated, and we\u2019re definitely not excluded from that,\u201d Porowski said, before deftly navigating the conversation back to \u201chonoring the legacy of this past decade of our lives and all these wonderful heroes that we\u2019ve had the blessing of getting to meet.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeremiah Brent, the interior designer who replaced Bobby Berk after his own abrupt and messy departure<\/a> from the squad, added that his experience with the cast has been \u201ctransformative.\u201d \u201cI feel safe and supported by the people up here,\u201d he said. Kind of feels like the new guy shouldn\u2019t get to weigh in, but sure.<\/p>\n King then asked if any of them had anything to say to Brown, which Jonathan Van Ness tackled. \u201cI would say that one thing I have been so honored to learn from Karamo in my time is, just like he said in that package, we have to meet people where they\u2019re at,\u201d Van Ness said. \u201cHe has taught people to center what they need, and I\u2019m actually really proud of him. Center what you need; do the things you need to do to take care of you.\u201d<\/p>\n After an outfit change, the gang headed over to Today, where they were interviewed by Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones. They were, once again, all holding hands when Jones read a different statement from Brown\u2019s assistant: \u201cKaramo has felt mentally and emotionally abused for years and he has been advised by his therapist to protect himself and his peace by not attending.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Brown also sent a video message to the show, in which he said he was \u201cmodeling what I believe is most important,\u201d which is to \u201clove yourself and protect yourself,\u201d hence why he was at home instead of with his cast. Brown relayed all of this with a lot of energy and a huge smile before Today cut back to the somber vibe in the studio.<\/p>\n Porowski once again took the lead on addressing the situation, saying that as a collective they \u201cfully support\u201d Brown \u201ctaking care of himself.\u201d Tan France added his own two cents, saying, \u201cI\u2019m so proud of what we\u2019ve achieved, including Karamo. What we\u2019ve all done together, the work that he has done and the rest of us, has been profound.\u201d<\/p>\n On Instagram, Porowski shared a post celebrating the new season, writing in the caption that \u201cit\u2019s not about how or even that it ended- the journey of it all was the part I\u2019ll hold close to my heart.\u201d According to People<\/a>, one commenter told Porowski that it would be hard to watch them be a \u201cbig happy family\u201d on TV with the knowledge that it\u2019s \u201call fake.\u201d Porowski responded, writing, \u201cA lot of us come from complicated families and still have jobs and positive things we\u2019re passionate about. Authenticity is about being honest about the complexities of life and knowing two things can exist at the same time \u2764\ufe0f.\u201d Totally.<\/p>\n