Karamo Brown said he pulled out at the last minute from January press appearances for the final season of Queer Eye because he wanted to protect his peace, and he has now linked that absence to a far more personal reason: he says he relapsed during the show’s third season.
Brown made the remarks in a cover story that reopened questions about what was happening behind the scenes as the Netflix series headed into its last stretch. He said he wanted viewers to remember the message he has spent more than a decade promoting — that mental health matters — and added that if he stayed quiet and pretended he was sick, he would be protecting the wrong thing.
The timing matters because Brown’s sudden no-show in January drew immediate attention. He and the rest of the Fab Five had been scheduled for CBS Mornings and Today, but Brown’s assistant told both programs that he was worried about being bullied and had felt mentally and emotionally abused for years. In the new interview, Brown said he had experienced toxicity with his costars and alleged bullying and unchecked bad behavior from executives and members of production.
He did not stop there. Brown said the first split among the cast began after a sexual harassment complaint was filed against him in the first few weeks of filming. He said he had a “fun and flirty” relationship with an unnamed member of the Fab Five during casting, initially believed that co-star had filed the complaint and later learned it came from an anonymous third party. Brown said he was cleared of wrongdoing, but the complaint and the reaction around it shaped the atmosphere that followed.
Brown also said his mother overheard co-stars badmouthing him on set, a detail that lends the allegations a more personal edge. He said the problem was not simply that people disagreed, but that no one stepped in when behavior crossed a line. “Everyone would just say, ‘Well, that’s just that person,’ instead of saying, ‘This behavior does not fly in a professional environment,’” he said.
The production companies behind Queer Eye pushed back. ITV America and Scout Productions said they strongly disagreed with Brown’s suggestion that concerns were ignored or allowed to continue unchecked, and said issues brought to production leadership were taken seriously and addressed appropriately. That dispute leaves the show with an uncomfortable split-screen: Brown describing years of abuse and neglect, and the companies saying the complaints were handled.
Queer Eye has already been through a major cast change, with original star Bobby Berk replaced by Jeremiah Brent in 2024. Brown’s account now turns the final season into more than a farewell run. It becomes the place where unresolved conflict, a relapse he says happened during season 3, and a public argument over what production knew all collided in plain view. What remains unanswered is whether Brown will name the incidents he says made the set toxic, or whether the companies will answer with any more detail of their own.
