Tantrums and bad behavior
The intact facade is crumbling: “Queer Eye” employees blame the stars of the Netflix show
The stars of “Queer Eye” from left: Tan France, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness
© Everett Collection / Imago Images
In front of the camera, the stars of “Queer Eye” always present themselves as a happy TV family. Things are supposed to be different behind the scenes of the feel-good show, as a report now shows.
In recent years, “Queer Eye” has been on Netflix has become one of the feel-good shows par excellence. The show’s concept is simple: five queer people make it their mission to help one person undergo personal transformation. The five of them usually travel to remote places in the USA, far away from the glamor of the big city. Each of the five also has its own area of activity.
Allegations against “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness
Jonathan Van Ness is responsible for the appearance, more specifically the hair. Tan France is there to choose a new clothing style for the hero of the respective program. Meanwhile, Bobby Berk redesigns the four walls, Antoni Porowski takes care of nutritional tips and the contents of the refrigerator and Karamo Brown appears as an amateur psychologist.
The five of them repeatedly emphasized how close they are to each other, even off camera. But now a report in Rolling Stone is raising doubts about this narrative. Last November, Berk unexpectedly announced that he would no longer be a part of “Queer Eye.” It seemed at the time that both his co-stars and Netflix were surprised. “Basically they were a group of people in their mid-thirties who got together and were told they were best friends,” an anonymous production employee told the magazine. “That’s what it really was: a made-up boy band with big personalities, some of whom were favored and some of whom weren’t, and then eventually things got really toxic.” But what are the allegations?
Bobby Berk gets out
Apparently there were discussions among some of the show’s stars about replacing Berk before he himself threw in the towel. Fashion expert Tan France in particular is said to be behind it. But the allegations against Jonathan Van Ness are particularly disturbing. The non-binary hairstylist is described by several anonymous sources in his environment as at least difficult. “Rolling Stone” quotes that Van Ness was even called a “monster” and a “nightmare.” “It’s intense and scary,” said a source. Van Ness explodes at least once a week, the informant said.
The public image of Van Ness and the actual personality would not match. “Jonathan is a multi-faceted person who has the ability to be very warm and charismatic and make you feel like you’re really special because you’re being noticed,” the source said. But then outbursts of anger would follow. Allegedly, Bobby Berk even refused to film with Van Ness. “[Van Ness] never wanted to share the spotlight with anyone. There were times when we couldn’t even film scenes with certain members of the Fab Five together because it got so bad.”
Fans of the show will be shocked by the revelations. Above all, it was the chemistry of the five coupled with their caring towards the respective heroes of the episodes that made “Queer Eye” something special. The stars of the show did not want to comment on the allegations in “Rolling Stone” magazine.
source: “Rolling Stones”
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