Queer Eye star Karamo Brown and dance partner Jenna Johnson were sadly eliminated out of Dancing With The Stars on Monday evening.
Talking to reporters afterward, Brown returned to a topic over which he faced criticism early on in the season: his friendship with former White House staffer Sean Spicer.
Spicer was press secretary for President Donald Trump for seven months from the time he took office in January 2017. Since resigning, Spicer has written a memoir of his time in the role, in which he praised Trump. He has not expressed regret or discomfort over any of Trump’s anti-LGBTQ actions since taking office.
Related: Karamo Brown from “Queer Eye” thinks Trump’s lying former press secretary is “nice” & “very sweet”
People reports Brown telling reporters after his elimination that he’d been working on Spicer.
“My goal coming into this was to introduce myself to people who have never seen Queer Eye, to let them know who I am. And also, my goal has always been to show how if you can show kindness and lead with love, things can change.
Acknowledging the criticism he received for saying he was looking forward to competing alongside Spicer when the season got underway, Brown said, “Day one I got backlash [for supporting him]. I started this show with people telling me, ‘You’re horrible, you’re crazy, you’re stupid.’ Because I showed someone who has a different political view than mine kindness.”
The backlash was so extreme that Brown temporarily stepped away from social media. He says that as the show has gone on, he and Spicer have become friends – despite their political differences. He says he has pointed out to Spicer how thing he has said has hurt Brown, both as a gay man and person of color.
“Through this process, Sean’s trailer has been next to mine and I have literally every day been planting seeds in his heart.
“And literally, I could see each week those seeds … blossoming and that’s why [when I was sent home] he got emotional.
“Sean is literally someone who I would’ve never thought I could be friends with, and I’m going to walk away from here calling him a friend.
“I don’t think Sean’s going to make it to the end [of the competition], but I’m proud of him. I really am proud of him, because he’s had fun every week and I think he’s exceptional.”
Related: Karamo Brown blocks LGBTQ followers, deletes Twitter account after complimenting Sean Spicer
Spicer told People that he’d become “close” to Brown throughout their time together on the show.
“I think that it’s been great getting to know [Brown], getting to discuss things with him. And so it’s tough to watch somebody that you’ve really got close to go home when you know how hard they’ve worked and how much progress they’ve made.”
Spicer is one of seven celebrity contestants remaining on this season of Dancing with the Stars.
Cam
Brown said….
“”“Day one I got backlash [for supporting him]. I started this show with people telling me, ‘You’re horrible, you’re crazy, you’re stupid.’ Because I showed someone who has a different political view than mine kindness.”
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This is the pure right wing propaganda that many LGBT people seem to have internalized. If somebody said that black people shouldn’t be allowed to vote, that Asians shouldn’t be allowed to have jobs, or that women shouldn’t own property, NOBODY would describe it as “A different political view”. They would accurately be called racist or sexist, etc…
But because some LGBT people seem to have internalized self hate, there seems to be a desperation to excuse bigotry towards us where they wouldn’t excuse it towards others. Karamo, this guy supported a campaign where his boss stated he would appoint judges to reverse your rights. That isn’t a “Different political belief”, that is bigotry and hate. Enough with this B.S.
Judespeak
Interesting take. And one I am inclined to agree with.
Rock-N-RollHS
Stop with the drama queen hysterics, gurl.
Cam
@Rock-N-RollHS
Awwww, the right wing troll account has to come and try to deflect from a posting about bigotry. Sweetie, your story is old and played out.
Kangol2
Great points, Cam. Also, Google “Sean Spicer n-word classmate.” As it turns out, a former classmate of Sean’s publicly confronted him over Sean’s overt and repeated racism when he was a student at the elite Portsmouth Abbey Catholic school years ago. Sean apparently had no defense whatsoever for his past behavior. Perhaps Sean has changed his personal attitudes on racism and homophobia, but as you point out, he worked for a man–he was the PR chief and propagandist for Drumpf–who has made overt racism and support for homophobic religious and legal fanatics part of the core of his campaign and governing philosophy. Karamo Brown might be able to reason with him, but he’s a bad apple nevertheless.
OhNoYouDont
I was talking this over with my dear friend David Duke just the other night
Catholicslutbox
girl has serious issues.
no wonder no other queens from the show like him.
RomanHans
He should give Kanye a call so they can share hours of delusion together.
Rock-N-RollHS
The parallel not quite accurate, but whatever . . .
Cam
@Rock-N-RollHS
Except you apparently aren’t able to define why it isn’t accurate. Feel free.
sfhairy
I’ve stopped watching Queer Eye. It’s boring.
HankHarris
Somebody sure knows how to get attention….
GentlemanCaller
And who is he again? And why do I care?
bowlingbutch
My friends want me to have the rights they have. They do not spread hatred. I agree that we do need to teach some people who we are but do not consider people like Spicer your friend. Until he says gay and lesbian people deserve equal rights he is not your friend.
DarkZephyr
Stop demonizing him for trying to rehabilitate an a**hole. Jesus Christ. He isn’t declaring his support for Spicer’s views. He’s hoping to make him a better person and you’re all acting like a pack of starving wolves ready to pick his bones clean. My God. You’re all rejecting the message of Harvey Milk it seems.
LegionKeign
And Harvey Milk was murdered, just saying.
Cam
Except he isn’t rehabilitating. What he is doing is not just minimizing Sean Spicer’s hate and bigotry, he’s minimizing all anti-LGBT bigotry by using the right wing talking point that hate and bigotry are merely “Different opinions” and not assaults on our most basic human rights.
chi eg
‘You’re horrible, you’re crazy, you’re stupid.’ This was the only part of the article that made any sense to me.
toddlicious
Karamo who…????