The rollout for the final season of Netflix’s “Queer Eye” got off to a shaky start this week when cast member Karamo Brown backed out of a pair of TV appearances at the last minute Tuesday, citing “mental health” concerns.
Brown had been slated to appear on “CBS Mornings” alongside co-stars Jeremiah Brent, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness to promote Season 10 of “Queer Eye,” which debuts Wednesday and is set in Washington, D.C. As the interview kicked off, however, host Gayle King shared a statement from Brown, in which he addressed his absence.
“I 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’t be there today,” the statement read.
King said Brown’s assistant had also told her that the culture guru was “worried about being bullied,” but did not elaborate.
The four remaining “Queer Eye” stars seemed caught off-guard by Brown’s announcement, and held one another’s hands for the duration of the interview.
“I will say, our ‘Queer Eye’ family … we’ve been doing this for almost a decade, which is pretty wild to believe, and families are complicated and we’re definitely not excluded from that,” Porowski said. “But I think two things can exist at the same time, and while that is definitely true, we’re also here to showcase these incredible heroes that we have and really honor the legacy of this past decade of our lives.”
Brent, France, Porowski and Van Ness had to contend with Brown’s absence yet again on NBC’s “Today With Jenna & Sheinelle.” This time, however, Brown shared a video message thanking Netflix, the “Queer Eye” crew and the show’s fans, but notably made no mention of his co-stars.
“Just like the themes of this season, I’m modeling what I believe is most important, which I want to remind you all: Love yourselves and protect yourselves,” he said in the clip. “That’s why I’m here, at home, and not there.”
Co-host Sheinelle Jones also shared a statement from Brown’s assistant, which read in part, “Karamo has felt mentally and emotionally abused for years and he’s been advised by his therapist to protect himself and his peace by not attending.”
Watch a clip of the Queer Eye cast on “Today With Jenna & Sheinelle” below.
Brown’s co-stars again held hands and appeared more visibly emotional than they had been on “CBS Mornings,” but nonetheless shifted the conversation to the series itself.
“Look, we’re so sorry that he’s not here,” Porowski said. “We fully support, I think, as a collective unit, him taking care of himself. And to echo what he’s saying, we’re here to honor the legacy of a decade, which is so wild to think about.”
HuffPost reached out to representatives for Netflix for comment on Brown’s absence from the “Queer Eye” press tour, but did not immediately hear back.
“Queer Eye,” a reboot of Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” premiered on Netflix in 2018 to critical acclaim. Over the course of nine seasons, the makeover series won 12 Emmy Awards and turned its five stars into household names.
In November 2023, however, original cast member Bobby Berk stunned fans by announcing his departure from the series after eight seasons. Though Berk initially shrugged off rumors of behind-the-scenes tension between him and his co-stars, a Rolling Stone exposé published in March 2024 accused France and Porowski of engaging in “mean-girl antics” to get Berk axed from the series to make way for Brent, his replacement.
The most explosive allegations, however, were leveled at Van Ness. Rolling Stone spoke to four anonymous “Queer Eye” production sources and three former colleagues who described the celebrity hairstylist as a “nightmare” and a “monster” who is “demeaning” and emotionally “abusive.”
France later denied having anything to do with Berk’s exit, while Van Ness also spoke out against the troubling claims, calling them “overwhelmingly untrue.”
“I know there were times where I could have been better,” Van Ness said in a June 2024 appearance on the “Table Manners” podcast. Though the stylist sidestepped many of the specific claims about their behavior, they said the article “forced me to really learn how to slow down, disengage, and then really love myself.”
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