The Queer Eye stars are no strangers to drama.
Putting a group of experts together and having them travel together as “best friends” doesn’t always lead to lasting friendships off-camera.
But for Karamo Brown to skip out on group interviews and blindside his castmates … oof.
What happened?
Even before he started ditching interviews, there were signs
Before we get into the on-air bombshell, fans had already picked up on something being off. The signs were there.
In addition to the overall lack of group promotion ahead of Queer Eye‘s 10th and final season (normally they tour together), there was a major hint on social media.
Karamo had unfollowed three of his co-stars.
He is no longer following Tan France, Antoni Porowski, or Jonathan van Ness.
That would be eye-catching even if it happened years from now. But happening just as the show airs its grand finale? That’s drama.
Originally, Karamo would have appeared alongside all four of his Queer Eye co-stars on CBS Mornings on Tuesday, January 20.
Instead, as you can see in the video above, he was a very conspicuous no-show.
While Jonathan, Tan, Jeremiah, and Antoni showed solidarity together, Gayle King wanted to get the glaring omission out of the way.
Less than an hour before he was due on camera, he instead sent a letter, which Gayle read aloud.
Additionally, Karamo’s assistant informed CBS Mornings that the absent star feared being “bullied.”
Who is trying to ‘destroy’ his peace?
“I hope everyone remembers the main theme I have tried to teach them over the past decade,” Gayle read from Karamo’s letter.
“Which is to focus on and to protect their mental health/peace,” he detailed.
Karamo wrote of guarding one’s peace “from people or a world who seek to destroy it.”
Dramatically, he added: “Which is why I can’t be there today.”
This was a stunning declaration. And, even with at least a few minutes’ warning to prepare, it left his co-stars (appropriately) stunned.
“Surprised is a fair understatement,” Antoni expressed to Gayle.
“I will say our ‘Queer Eye’ family, we’ve been doing this for almost a decade,” he noted, “which is pretty wild to believe.”
Antoni continued: “Families are complicated. And we’re definitely not excluded from that.”
He then added, however vaguely: “But I think two things can exist at the same time.”
Antoni concluded: “And while that is definitely true, we’re also here to showcase the incredible heroes that we have and honor the legacy of this past decade of our lives.”
We should remember that there’s a lot that we don’t know
After Antoni’s admittedly awkward take, Jonathan chimed in with his own take.
“I would say one thing that I’ve been so honored to learn about Karamo in that time is that we have to meet people we’re they’re at,” he expressed.
“He has taught people to center what they need. And I’m actually really proud of him,” Jonathan added. “Center what you need, do the things that you need to do to take care of you. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel like that sometimes.”
Jonathan concluded: “It’s really beautiful. We do need to center what’s best for us sometimes. And I take my hat off to him for doing that today.”
Obviously, none of that explains any points of contention. This leaves the internet guessing. Is the group being mean to him, or is this an Ashley Tisdale situation?
On social media, some are Team Karamo, others are siding with his now former colleagues. And perhaps the wisest of all are Team Nobody — because they’re withholding judgment until they know more.