January 21, 2026
Karamo Brown Skips ‘CBS Mornings’ Appearance With ‘Queer Eye’ Cast, Cites Worry ‘About Being Bullied’
Karamo Brown distances himself from the "Queer Eye" cast as they promote the show's 10th and final season.
Karamo Brown is hinting at trouble in paradise among the Queer Eye cast after skipping out on scheduled television appearances in promotion of the show’s final season.
Brown issued a statement after he was noticeably absent when cast members Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness, and Jeremiah Brent appeared on CBS Mornings and Today with Jenna & Sheinelle on Jan. 20, canceling his scheduled interviews just an hour before airtime, People reported. Gayle King shared the news first, reading Brown’s statement on air that explained his decision.
“Thank you to everyone around the world for welcoming me into their homes for 10 seasons. Season 10 is amazing, and I know you will fall in love with the deserving people we helped,” the statement read. “Though the show is ending, I hope 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,” the statement continued. “Thank you to the crew for being the best in business and the executives for believing in me. 10 Seasons, I’m truly humbled.”
After reading the statement, King added that Brown’s assistant had noted he was also “worried about being bullied.”
She then brought the attention back to the Queer Eye cast, asking for responses to Brown’s absence and statement.
“Surprised is a fair understatement,” Porowski said. “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. And while that is definitely true, we’re also here to showcase these incredible heroes we have and really honor the legacy of this past decade of our lives and all these wonderful heroes that we’ve had the blessing of getting to meet and have conversations with.”
Brent, who joined Queer Eye in Season 9 following Bobby Berk’s departure, spoke up, saying his experience with the group has been “transformative” and that he has “felt safe and supported” by the entire cast and crew.
The Queer Eye cast addressed Brown’s absence once more on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle, where he shared a video message after previously telling the NBC morning show that he had “felt mentally and emotionally abused for years” and that his therapist advised him “to protect himself and his peace by not attending.”
“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,” Brown said in a video message.
Brown’s separation from the cast comes after former Queer Eye star Bobby Berk announced his departure following eight seasons. In a 2024 Vanity Fair interview, Berk spoke about tensions within the Fab Five, specifically noting conflicts with image expert Tan France.
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