‘Queer Eye’ Star Backs out of ‘Today’ Interview With Co-Stars, Says He Was ‘Mentally and Emotionally Abused’

Queer Eye is back for its tenth and final series. But amid a major press run for the Netflix reality series, one of its hosts has been absent.

Karamo Brown backed out of multiple live sit-down interviews alongside his co-hosts. Today host Sheinelle Jones said Brown’s assistant sent an email that read, “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.” His colleagues were stunned by the revelation.

The decision to not appear on the show with Jones and Jenna Bush Hagerwas seemingly last minute.

The rest of the Fab 5 put on a brave face while holding hands during the video, trying to keep it together.

Brown also sent a video that played before the interview segment.

“I just want to say thank you to all the fans who supported us and rocked with us for 10 seasons,” he said in the video. “This new season is going to be amazing, you’re going to love every minute of it. 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. But continue to watch the show. The crew worked on it and did an amazing job. I want to shout out to the crew. I want to shout out to all the fans. And I want to shout out the executives from Netflix. Thank you for having me for 10 seasons.”

He did not thank his co-stars.

Brown was also reportedly scheduled to chat with Gayle King alongside the rest of the hosts on CBS Mornings but backed out because he refused to be bullied, per reports.

Regarding his absence, his co-stars said they were shocked. “Surprised is a fair understatement,” Antoni Porowski told King during their 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.” 

“But I think two things can exist at the same time,” he continued. “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.”

The tenth and final season of Queer Eye begins streaming on Netflix on Wednesday, Jan. 21.