The Advocate
This story originally appeared on Out . Fab Five member Karamo Brown is finally opening up about being “terrified” during an incident where he was pulled over by a cop on an episode of Queer Eye , which he claims was orchestrated by producers. Only three episodes into the first season of the popular Netflix show, the cast was in a car being driven by Brown when they were pulled over by a police officer. Brown and the rest of the cast — costar Bobby Berk was the only one aware they were going to be pulled over — look visibly nervous before the cop finally admits that he’s the one who nominated his friend to be on the show. At the time, the episode opened up a conversation between Cory Waldrop, the man they were supposed to makeover, about Brown’s fear of interacting with the police as a person of color. “When we have the driving scene in the morning, we all fight over who’s going to drive. That morning, I was adamant that I wanted to drive,” Brown told BuzzFeed in 2018 after the episode had premiered. “I’m glad that that happened, because then it allowed a conversation to happen that probably wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been in the driver’s seat.” Now that the show’s final season aired, Brown opened up in an interview with People for its June cover story about the behind-the-scenes drama and toxic dynamics on the show, and his real feelings about the faux-police incident. “You can see, because it made it in the episode, real fear in my face and my castmates’ face because none of us know what was going on," he said. "And at that moment I realized I don’t have my license, I’m in the South, I’m a Black man, and I do not feel safe right now.” See on Instagram Brown claimed the show used his race in a calculated way to create a more dramatic moment for the show, without consideration to how the scene would impact him, including the cop behaving in an “aggressive” manner, and asking him to step out of the car. “It was not acting, we were all terrified because we are part of a community that has been harassed and beaten by the police…we have someone who identifies as nonbinary, we have two people from different countries, we have a Black man in the seat. None of us felt safe,” he recounted. Once the cop announced he was actually part of the show, Brown said that it “clicked” for him that the whole thing was staged to create drama. “Oh, so you wanted a Black man to drive so that you can get the response of a Black man being terrified being pulled over by a cop,” he said. Since filming on the show wrapped, Brown has been more open about his struggles with sobriety and depression, and even skipped out on promoting the show alongside costars Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, and Jeremiah Brent, citing his experience of feeling “mentally and emotionally abused” while making the show as his reason for being a no-show on CBS Mornings and Today on January 20. Elsewhere in the interview, the first he’s given since those canceled appearances, Brown told People that in the past, he and his castmates "had always come together because of the fans, but because of the work I'd done on myself, I asked, ‘If I stay quiet right now and pretend I'm sick or something, whose peace am I protecting?’" The show's production company, ITV America and Scout Productions, said in a statement to People: "We strongly disagree with any characterization that concerns raised during the production of Queer Eye were ignored, dismissed or allowed to continue unchecked. Throughout the series' run, any issues brought to production leadership were taken seriously and addressed appropriately. Production consistently fostered a respectful and professional environment for the cast and crew — which included ongoing training, coaching and other support for the cast — maintaining clear workplace policies and practices throughout filming." The producers added: "We remain incredibly proud of Queer Eye's lasting impact and the community the series helped build over more than 20 years."
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