Karamo Brown was previously betrayed by two co-stars amid messy Queer Eye drama
He said it was a critical moment in his twenties
Reality TV has a long memory, and right now it’s circling back around Karamo Brown. As Queer Eye drama bubbles up again, folks are revisiting the moments that shaped him long before Netflix fame.
And spoiler: this isn’t the first time Karamo has felt let down by people he trusted on camera.
Long before Fab Five feuds and whispery backstage tension, Karamo had a deeply unsettling experience on The Real World: Philadelphia that still hits hard today.
Karamo’s in the middle of Queer Eye drama right now
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If you’ve been even lightly scrolling reality TV TikTok lately, you’ve probably clocked that Queer Eye is having a moment, and not the feel-good kind.
Over the years, cracks have appeared in the Fab Five’s glossy, affirming façade, with cast members subtly admitting that tensions behind the scenes were very real.
Karamo has been open about conflict with co-stars, including claims that things were said about him behind his back and that certain relationships fractured beyond repair.
While no one’s naming names in neon lights, people have pieced together a narrative involving betrayal, miscommunication, and hurt feelings, the kind that linger.
He had an awful experience on The Real World
Long before Queer Eye, Karamo was making history as one of the first openly gay Black men on MTV’s The Real World, specifically The Real World: Philadelphia. While the 2004 season is often remembered as groundbreaking, one moment stands out as genuinely traumatic.
During a night out at a club, police surrounded Karamo after an alleged tip claimed he had a gun, which he did not.
Cameras captured him being questioned and boxed in by officers, a moment Karamo later described as critical and deeply upsetting. But what hurt most wasn’t just the police harassment. It was what happened next.
Two of his white male housemates, people he considered friends, repeatedly told him he was “overreacting.” Instead of validating his fear, they dismissed it.
For Karamo, that was a betrayal layered on top of an already frightening situation. The world watched him experience racial profiling in real time, then watched as the people closest to him minimised it.
In a clip from the show, the former MTV star is seen saying: “These types of things, you don’t understand.”
Reflecting on the moment, Karamo added: “That was a real moment that was captured… You actually got to see young people and what we are experiencing…
“It’s about seeing what happens when someone who is African American feels triggered, attacked… what happens when a female feels attacked. I was proud of that moment because I was not only able to speak up for myself, but I was able to lend a voice to so many people of colour who felt like their experiences were never validated, never seen on TV…”
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