What to Know
The cast of Queer Eye has been busy promoting the tenth and final season of their hit Netflix series (which is now streaming), but one of the fab five has been notably missing from the gang. After Karamo Brown pulled out of the cast’s appearance on the Today show at the last minute earlier this week, his assistant revealed that he’s been “mentally and emotionally abused for years,” and now, he’s finally putting his foot down.
Karamo didn’t show up to the Today show on Tuesday.
When Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness, and Jeremiah Brent sat down with Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones on Tuesday morning, Karamo was notably absent — something that the show’s producers had only learned about right before the cast was due to go on air.
Sheinelle explained why Karamo was missing, telling the audience, “We received an email from Karamo’s assistant this morning, which said, in part, ‘Karamo 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.'”
He did send a video he recorded for the show instead.
Karamo sent a video for the show to play in his place, thanking fans for tuning in for 10 seasons of Queer Eye.
“This new season is going to be amazing. You’re going to love every minute of it,” he said in his recorded message. “And 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. That’s why I’m here, at home, and not there.”
The cast seemed surprised by Karamo’s behavior.
The Today show wasn’t the only press commitment that Karamo didn’t show up for; he also backed out of an appearance on CBS Mornings the same day, and the producers didn’t find out about his absence until less than an hour before he was supposed to be on. Anchor Gayle King read a statement Karamo had sent in on air, in which he said, “I 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’t be there today.”
His cast mates didn’t seem to have any inkling that Karamo wouldn’t show up, including Antoni, who said that “surprised is a fair understatement” of his feelings over the situation.
“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. We’re definitely not excluded from that,” Antoni said on the show, via The Hollywood Reporter. “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 we have and honor the legacy of this past decade of our lives.”
