Karamo Brown has last-minute dropped out of media appearances promoting the new season of Queer Eye, to the “surprise” of his castmates.
The hit Netflix show is about to debut its 10th and final season. It’s been over a decade for this iteration of the “Fab Five,” though it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing the whole time (designer Bobby Berk left the original lineup after eight seasons).
However, the promotional interview with Gayle King this morning started on an odd note when Gayle said, “We received word just in less than an hour ago that Karamo Brown is not going to be joining us today.”
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Noting that his assistant had claimed that Karamo was afraid of “being bullied,” she then read a statement from Karamo: “I hope that 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.”
When the cast was asked if they were “surprised” by his absence, Antoni replied, “I think surprise is a fair understatement.”
“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,” he continued.
When asked whether any of them had anything specific to say to Karamo, Jonathan Van Ness replied, “One thing that I’ve been so honored to learn from Karamo in my time is…we have to meet people where they’re at. And he has taught people to center what they need. And I’m actually really proud of him. Center what you need. Do the things you need to do to take care of you. I’d be lying if I didn’t feel like that sometimes. I think it’s really beautiful.”
Karamo also did not appear during a cast interview on The Today Show with Jenna & Sheinelle. The hosts also read an email from Karamo’s assistant: “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.”
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They then played a video from Karamo, where he described the new season as “amazing” and thanked the fans, crew, and Netflix executives.
In response, Antoni said, “We’re so sorry he’s not here. We fully support as a collective unit him taking care of himself. To echo what he’s saying, we’re here to honor the legacy of a decade.”
Tan France echoed, “The show was never about us. Yes, we were the faces of the show, but the show is about our heroes.”
As of right now, Karamo does not appear to follow Antoni, Tan, or JVN on Instagram. They do not follow him either.