Karamo Brown stepped in it this week when he praised Sean Spicer, who regularly spread Trump’s lies to the American public while serving as White House Press Secretary, calling him “a good guy, a really sweet guy.”
Both Spicer and Brown are set to appear on the upcoming season of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. In a recent interview with Access Hollywood, Brown was asked who he thought his biggest competition on the show would be. Here’s how he responded:
“Actually, no lemme tell you something. Um, Sean Spicer and I have been talking. Yeah, like, literally, I was most excited to meet him because, like the thing is that people would look at us and think that we’re polar opposites but I’m a big believer that if you can talk to someone and meet in the middle that you can learn about each other and help each other both grow. So we have been chatting all day today. Like, he’s a good guy, a really sweet guy. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Karamo from Queer Eye saying Sean Spicer is a nice guy. I know. I know.”
The comment didn’t sit well with, frankly, anyone.
Famous queer activists sure do love to turn their backs on the community the moment it benefits them and plays to their privilege (why yes, this IS a subtweet about Karamo Brown agreeing to be on DWTS with Sean Spicer)
— Lisa Ann Paul (@lapshaffer) August 22, 2019
This is so misguided of ?@Karamo?. We are long past the point of listening and “meeting in the middle”. This is NOT about politics, it’s about morals and truth. We know who he is and what he has done. Playing nice only enables them and rewards them. https://t.co/VOmxg74qTO
— Scott Nevins (@ScottNevins) August 22, 2019
Jonathan Van Ness and Karamo Brown really pretend to be queer revolutionaries as if they aren’t maintaining the status quo and changing nothing. All they do is demand queers shut up and be moderate for the sake of friendship or whatever they think will stop the fascists.
— Ethan “Sickening, No?” Ferris (@ethanrferris) August 23, 2019
Karamo Brown is out here trying to pitch a spin-off, “Queer Eye For The Fascist Guy”. pic.twitter.com/WJczq6QzQQ
— – curtis wiley – (@Curtis_Wiley) August 22, 2019
Just for the record: Spicer lied to the American people about the circumstances surrounding the firing of then-national security adviser Michael Flynn and the firing of former FBI Director James Comey. On the very network that airs Dancing with the Stars, Spicer also defended Trump’s racist lie that three to five million people voted illegally in the November election.
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Trump later used Spicer’s lies to help obstruct an investigation into Russia’s role into helping get him elected and to start a racist Voter Fraud Commission to suppress voter turnout amongst Democrats and people of color. And that’s not even the half of it. Spicer also lied about a bunch of other hateful stuff, too.
Following the backlash for his “really sweet guy” compliment, Brown took to Twitter to lament about how he “can’t stand people” who post things “just to flame the fire and get a reaction.”
“We fight harder than your ass ever has for people of color and members of the LGBTQIA community,” he quipped at one person in particular.
Then he started blocking LGBTQ people on Twitter for disagreeing with him.
Queer Eye's @Karamo Brown is blocking prominent LGBT writers and activists like @evanrosskatz @elielcruz and @MartiGCummings for questioning why Brown would call his DWTS castmate (and former Trump official) Sean Spicer a "good guy." https://t.co/rPRpowKZn0 @Newsweek
— H. Alan Scott (@HAlanScott) August 22, 2019
I was pretty bummed when @Karamo Brown advocated for Sean Spicer, but I’m fucking livid that he’s blocking LGBT+ people who disagree with him…
— John Zuiker (@Johnzuiker) August 22, 2019
After what he’s said about @seanspicer and the fact that he’s blocked folks for calling him out on it, it’s an honor and a privilege to be blocked by @Karamo Brown.
If you’re considering getting an “emotional or mental makeover” from this piece of work, reconsider. pic.twitter.com/gC1Afi6cjd
— noah michelson (@noahmichelson) August 23, 2019
Sooo… Karamo Brown is only a “good” member of the community so long as he doesn’t challenge your opinions? Simply walking away or refusing to meet halfway with someone HAS never and WILL never bring forth change.
— S E T H™? (@Lifeless_Misfit) August 23, 2019
Now, it appears Brown has deleted his Twitter account altogether.
If you go to the profile for @Karamo, you are now taken to a blank page that says “This account doesn’t exist. Try searching for another.”
It seems like a rather dramatic response, if you ask us. He could have just logged off for the weekend until the fury died down.
Or, better yet, listened to what his LGBTQ peers were saying rather than silencing them and then running away. After all, isn’t he the one who’s always talking about coming together and finding common ground?
After it was announced Spicer had been cast on DWTS, host Tom Bergeron put out a statement saying he wasn’t happy with it, fearing it would cause divisiveness and put a damper on the show, adding that DWTS should be “a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations.”
“For me, as host, I always gaze into the camera’s lens and imagine you on the other side, looking for a two hour escape from whatever life hassles you’ve been wrestling with,” he wrote.
This whole Karamo Brown/Sean Spicer/LGBTQ drama is precisely what Bergeron was worried about. The season hasn’t even started yet and his fears are already coming true.
Related: Karamo Brown from “Queer Eye” thinks Trump’s lying former press secretary is “nice” & “very sweet”
rustyiam
Good for him bullying and shaming those you don’t agree with is not cool regardless of political parties!
Cam
Notice the desperation of the right wing troll accounts to always come on and defend any bigot or attack the fact that LGBTQ people don’t want to deal with people who have spent their careers trying to harm them?
Sweetie, get better at trolling, you’re showing your crack too easily.
ShiningSex
If someone is supportive of a Trumptard, they should be shamed.
James
GET LOST. GO BACK TO YOUR TRUMP NAZI DUMP.
KZNBama
I agree 100% with you Rustyiam. Lots of people can’t comprehend not fighting hate with hate, not sinking to the level of those they disagree with. LGBTQ folks and allies will NEVER progress as long as we are swimming in the same filthy emotional swamp as the people whose politics and beliefs we despise. It’s called connecting on a higher level. That’s where true transformation starts. If you can’t comprehend that, you have a long way to go. Karamo has a lot more emotional intelligence than whoever wrote this crap story.
Hdtex
Trump taint licker
linniejr
Rustyiam, I have to agree with you, I just think this whole thing was taken and is being taken far out of context. No where was Karamo asked about what he thought of Spicer in reference to his performance in his former job, He was asked about Spicer his DWTS competitor. After reading some of the comments in this forum alone, I probably would have done the same thing as Brown, not because someone disagreed with me, but because some of these comments are too much. Also I say bravo to Mr. Graham Gremore. Why?, because you’ve posted an article that should make all of us feel ashamed that we can’t agree to disagree and still be civil. A lot of the comments in this forum are uncalled for. As grown, intelligent gay men and women, no matter what race, religion, ethnicity, or political view, we still should be able to talk with and too each other like human beings.
Kangol2
Come on, Karamo, you’re a public figure. You can take a little criticism. Blocking people and deleting your Twitter account is pathetic. You’re advising people how to transform their lives and you act like this?
As for Sean Spicer, he’s repellant. Not only is he a liar and a buffoon that couldn’t stick it out with his lunatic, anti-Semitic racist psychopathic boss Drumpf, but he has a history of racist behavior, going back to high school. At one of his public events, a Black classmate confronted him over racist BS–screaming the “n-word” etc.–back in high school. He’s bad news, even if he is behaving in a benign fashion to get on Dancing With the Stars.
Cam
Other people on Queer Eye have defended other right wingers.
Proving that the show seems to be more of a minstrel show for straights than it is anything empowering. The QE guys apparently know to curtsy before Republican bigots as part of their jobs.
DarkZephyr
Have you watched the show? Hopefully by now, you know that I am not one to rush in and defend bigots or bigot defenders, and I think people are being very over the top when it comes to how they are reacting over this, though I concede that his decision to delete his social media was a dumb move. But I’ve been binge watching the show myself for the past week (and I find it freaking amazing and VERY queer positive and people on the show are having their views about LGBT people changed permanently for the better) and the few times the subject of MAGA and Trump have come up, they have all expressed their disgust. In the first season one of the dudes being made over had a MAGA hat in his home and in a subsequent season something Trump related came up for a brief moment. Now, did they body slam the MAGAite to the ground and start pummeling his face? No. They still made him over and were polite to him and he in turn came away with a new respect for the LGBT community. But they most certainly didn’t curtsy or gloss over their disgust with all things MAGA. They made their anti-Trump opinions very known. This show is not a “minstrel show” for straights, that description couldn’t be less accurate. Plus they make over LGBT people on the show too, not just straight cis folk. It would be a very big shame if a queer positive show like this that has has been having a very real, positive impact on people’s lives and also on how people relate to the LGBT community wound up being negatively affected over all of this.
youarederanged
@DarkZephyr Cam isn’t one to actually watch first and then give an opinion. He just blabs on and on. The show is incredibly queer positive and has had a huge impact in parts of the country where they don’t have much interaction with LGBTQ. There have been many amazing moments about that on the show. And yes, MAGA and Trump have come up and they have very clearly stated they do no support it. For some queens, it’s never enough. If you don’t spew hatred at all times than you’re complicit. It’s pathetic. Ironically, for those of you who actually watch the show, you know that Karamo is the one who actually connects the deepest with their clients, brings out all sorts of emotions and life-changing lessons when he works with them. Most of them are straights, and some of them have never interacted with a gay man before. The fact that Karamo is out there changing people’s minds in a positive way is a huge thing for our community, but look how he’s treated for simply saying another human being was a nice guy. Plenty of nice guys do shitty things. Obama has a long history of doing shitty things, remember?
ShiningSex
any gays supporting republicans are just ignorant and self loathing.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
@DarkZephyr………”They still made him over and were polite to him and he in turn came away with a new respect for the LGBT community. ”
Honey, I don’t watch the show but if what you describe did happen I would strongly suspect that guy was a plant by the Log Cabin Republicans to sway opinion. A gesture of such bolsters them, not us. Think about it for a minute.
James
DARK ZEPHYR GAY ASS KISSERS TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS ARE NOT INTERESTING.
DarkZephyr
@James
Agreed and there are no gays like that on “Queer Eye”. None of them kiss Trump’s ass. Karamo merely hoped to educate somebody who was on the other side of the aisle and he was crucified for it.
Gay Veteran
I’m not surprised! These Queer Eye guys are not gay role models or necessarily allies to the (entire) community. Karamo, like his peers, is just another selfish gay looking out for his bag.
youarederanged
Ok hater.
James
I AGREE WITH YOU. IGNORE THE TROLLS.
Brian
“It seems like a rather dramatic response, if you ask us.”
As opposed to the non dramatic shitstorm he got for such an innocuous statement?
ShiningSex
Supporting any Trumptard is disgusting.
How self-loathing does one have to be to support such vile people?
Brian
Do you ever unclutch those pearls?
DarkZephyr
This whole fiasco does not sit well with me, nor does Queerty’s contribution to it. Sean Spicer is a POS, but Karamo Brown’s ill advised expressed opinion doesn’t deserve the reaction it got, in my opinion. I don’t like the precedent this sets when it comes to LGBT on LGBT anger and judgment. This is why I never want to become an “influencer” on social media and am perfectly fine with my modest number of twitter followers. You make one mistake or put your foot in your mouth and they’re ready to crucify you in hordes. Never mind any of the positive things you have done. That gets all wiped out. Twitter Rage ruins everything.
Brian
I don’t see his job as any different than a defense attorney defending an obviously guilty person. Spokespeople are professional liars. That is literally the job. Every single presidential spokesperson has lied through their teeth to the public on a weekly, if not daily basis. For people to act like Spicer did anything different than any of his precessors is idiotic.
I don’t know what his personal views truly are, and I don’t watch DWTS, so none of this matters to me in the slightest. But it is always fun to watch the usual suspects get OUTRAGED over something so dumb. He literally just said that he was a nice guy. So, so, so dumb.
Brian
*predecessors
TheMarc
@DarkZephyr, so true and well said!
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
Could it be possible he is a card carrying Log Cabin Republican that chooses to remain silent about it?
tjack47
Good for him. I try to ignore trolls. I don’t care whom they are. I’d rather not live in a bubble anyway. He was just being kind. As usual, the bitches come out with their torches and pitchforks.
James
WHAT A STUPID COMMENT. IT WAS THE TRUMP TRASH THAT KILLS PEOPLE. GO BACK TO YOUR LOG CABIN BUFFONS WHERE YOU ARE MORE COMFORTABLE. NO ONE WILL MISS YOU.
Cam
New Troll account I see. Attacking the victims of bigotry while trying to normalize kissing up to bigots.
ShiningSex
Queer Eye is a stupid show. It’s boring and tips from mediocre gay men.
Who cares? Dancing with the Stars is also ignorant for having such a vile person like Spicer on their show. Come on…it’s dancing. One of the gayest things around next to fashion, interior design, hair/makeup.
youarederanged
We get it. You hate everything.
James
YOUAREDERANGED. GET LOST CREEP.
Rex Huskey
damn…. another sane voice ….. i am hopeful
Bengali
Great news. There will soon be a Dancing With the Stars; Barnyard Edition. Headliners will be Sarah Sanders, Sarah Palin, Sarah’s Retarded Baby, Melanoma Trump, Donnie and Eric Trump.
jimmypalmieri
oh hell no! will not be watching QE anymore….although it truly was inferior to the original.
Michaelhs
How very sad that Karamo is silencing queer voices and promotes the voice of a fascist. I hope and invite Karamo to do some reflection and to do some repair work.
Brian
He’s not silencing anyone. Everyone is still free to say whatever they want, saying it on his Twitter feed isn’t exactly a constitutional right
valentino888
The thing is, we’re in peril now. Like never before. Trumps regime is totalitarian. That cannot be met halfway, you have to fight it and win or else that’s it for us. Before maybe we could, but not now with this lot. It was very ill advised of this guy to attempt “middle ground” talk. Things are not as they once were. Let’s not call self-preservation “hate.” Every gay person, like every person of color and every woman SHOULD have their guard up and keep a safe distance; Not be cozying up and attempting some John Lennon song. This is not the time.
ElPillo
This government is toxic and the. toxicity is eiewhat is making of our society. Let all this be finished ASAP
TimothyBeauchamp
Girl is messy! Until she apologizes and makes amends, Queen needs to go into LGBTQ EXILE! Times up. Bye!
RobF
Boycott and don’t watch the damn program! But this hysteria over DWTS and Spicer – GET OVER IT! Spicer is a contestant on a dance competition show – not the head of ABC News! If you’re truly outraged, get off your ass and actually do something toward getting that Orange Orangutan out of office.
Brian
But it’s so much easier to just comment online and show the world that you are extra woke.
mark m
ABC is a Republican leaning network. I encountered the late Peter Jennings at the 2000 DNC & it was not pleasant at all. He was the face of the network, not the owner. I think I will boycott the network and stick with PBS. We have a realitie show POTUS & I am sick of the genre. The world needs to return to intellectual media and cut out the fake evangelical TV shows and fake professional wrestling.
truthseeker
@mark m
“ABC is a Republican leaning network”
What?!? LOL.
I guess the ABC hosted show The VIew, Brian Ross reporting fake news about Trump on the air, Martha Raddatz nearly crying when Hillary lost, George Stephanopoulous’ ties to the Clintons, Claire Shipman of ABC is married to former Obama WH Press Secretary Jay Carney, Ben Sherwood’s siblings working in the Obama Admin, and much more are all examples of ‘leaning Republican’
Jimmyk321
There isn’t anyone alive who hates Donald Trump more than Joy Behar and Whoppi Goldberg. The View is so anti Trump, and it’s the networks biggest news show
Kangol2
@JimmyK321, have you spoken with Marla Maples or Ivana Trump? LOL
Cam
@Jimmyk321
It’s adorable when you right wing trolls lie. See, you left out the part where the View hired Republicans….well sort of. See, they hired Abby Huntsman, whose qualification is being the daughter of a super wealthy Republican. AND they hired……Meghyn McCain whose qualification is……being the daughter of a super wealthy Republican.
They’ve also had Tom Delay on the Show, Bristol Palin, etc.. on Dancing with the Stars. Spicer already got a network in trouble for casting him on the Emmys and yet they STILL pulled him on the show so they could funnel cash to former Trump employees.
But yes…..you’re right. (Eye Roll)
James
KARAMO IS UNCLE TOM.
James
SO GLAD I DO NOT WATCH THESE TWO STUPID SHOWS.
youarederanged
We can tell. It’s way too much of a nice guy show for you. Nasty, yelling queen.
Cam
@youarederanged
I see once again you’re desperately trying to normalize the bigotry again. See, notice how again, anybody upset at a bigot on the show is a “Nasty Yelling Queen”?
Interesting also that you use a homophobic attack against people who don’t like bigots.
Again, please tell your manager at the troll farm to put somebody smarter on this account.
nm4047
Until reading some of the commentary on here I had NFI who this guy was/is. But, much the same as Trump ‘directing’ US business to leave China immediately, I don’t think anyone will take notice or pay it any consideration. I’m guessing if the show he is on needs to keep getting publicity to make it relevant, then we should expect these sort of ill informed op-eds. Never seen the show, nor have any interest in it, but appears (for commentary on here) to lack any respect from the gay community and is just made for the curiosity factor of the str8 community.
youarederanged
Don’t listen to the haters on here. Hateful queens are everywhere. The show is great and is very respectful to our community, and they have changed minds and lives of straights who had never spent time with a group of gay men. It’s really nice. We just live in a world where no matter who you are and what you do, people are going to tear you down and call you vile things. Especially gays. We’re the nastiest.
Cam
@youarederanged
And again, the right wing troll account doing the same thing. Defending bigots and attacking the LGBTQ community. Notice how the troll says that Gays are the nastiest? Not the bigots, now the people committing hate crimes, not people like Spicer who took tax dollars to lie to Americans and supported a bigoted president. No, it’s the victims of the bigotry who are “Nasty”.
Godabed
If his perception of the person is one way, twitter bullying is not going to change that, and just because you’re an LGBTQA+ activist doesn’t mean you can’t be blocked from someone’s personal account. What kind of weird entitlement is that?
I think people forget that individuals have a right to their opinions, regardless of whether you agree with them or not. However other people don’t have the right to push their opinions on someone else. This is the biggest problem with this situation, it very Donald Trump to do a thing like that.
If I were him, I would have blocked them too, but I wouldn’t have deleted my account. You can have your opinion on your own twitter account about what’s going on in my life, I don’t have to listen to or read it. The internet is full of trolls even trolls who pretend to be friends, fans or allies.
Karamo did nothing wrong in this situation to warranty such petty responses.
skyboy63
He is free to do as he chooses. .Last time I checked this was still America.
toddlicious
Karamo who????
Rock-N-RollHS
Good for him.
Cam
For what?
Seabelly
I think it’s great that so many people recognize the present and future threat Donald Trump poses for the LGBTQ community, the country and the world. I hope this energy can be used to defeat him in 2020. It does nothing constructive, though, to use it to tear one another down. Well, nothing constructive for us – it does a poo load of good for Donald Trump. Feeling hurt and angry at an ally’s perceived betrayal is valid. Discussion should follow, attacks should not. We must support one another even in moments of extreme disagreement, and we must remain united and focused on the goal of saving ourselves, the country and the world from Trump.
Robothedestroyer
The right is reactionist. They built steam and hate and intolerance until all of that erupted into Trump. Now the left is following the same plan and somehow thinks that being mindless, reactionary, and outraged is going to get them anywhere.
Keep in mind when the right was poppin off, they had calm and collected people in the background quietly focusing that energy which is why it succeeded. The left does not have that and if people keep acting like children despite their “feelings” nothing is gonna get better, ever.
That being said both of these motha f@#$as have a job to do on that show. They both decided to talk it out and get through the program in a civil way. It’s a mature way out of a tough possibly toxic situation and I’m all for it. I despise witch hunts. It’s ok to be critical but to jump on ol dude like that is just as gross. On the flip side of this situation I don’t agree with deleting twitter and blocking all the people either, it defeats the maturity shown previously and does raise suspision a little, but then again if the WHOLE godd@mn internet comes after you who knows how one will react?
I can already hear the clowns responding to this so I’m done with this article and situation. Let’s just hope 2020 gets here soon and we can vote the orange out of office and start healing.
linniejr
At first I too was going to say foul to Karamo, but after reading this, I say foul to us (us being gay). After reading the article, I realize that he is not defending this man the way we think, he’s just leaving politics out and addressing his fellow DWTS co-star. You would think that someone of my age (52)would agree with those who have blasted Karamo (who I fell in love with when he was on MTV’s The Real World), but this shows that we doth protest too much. Karamo was asked his opinion of Sean Spicer the DWTS participant, not what did he think of Sean Spicer the former White House Press Secretary. This is one show, (although I can’t stand it) that stays away from the evils of politics and for that we should be glad. of all things, I do think that Karamo is wrong for blocking others from his account, however I don’t know half of what was said by those of us who are LGBTQ. I don’t know, just by looking at some of the comments here, I probably would have done the same thing. Personally, I have worked with people that I may not agree with their politics, but them as a person, is another story. I think that before we jump Karamo, we should look at ourselves.