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During and after filming “The Real World” I felt depressed and alone. Nobody prepares you for the initial shock of notoriety.
Karamo Brown speaking to Forbes about his struggles after first catching fame and how no one prepares people for the mental health aspects of reality TV.
There I was confident about who I am, but there were people tearing me apart because of my sexuality, my background, and my look, among other things, and you need to be in a mental space where you can handle that. I wasn’t.
Most people think that reality television is this ticket to fame and money. Sometimes it can be. But for most people it is a very hard thing, particularly when the cameras have stopped rolling and you are only remembered as a certain way.
I think there should be more conversations about how we are supporting people on reality television. And there needs to be more aftercare, which is something that is now very important to me in my talk show.
Problems just don’t disappear with a flip of a switch. It often takes work.
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Karamo shares surprisingly intimate details of his first night with BF Carlos Medel
Sounds like the ‘Queer Eye’ star and his beau moved very fast on their first date—but not in the way you might think.
jerzeybum
You mean he wasn’t able to spend 5 or 10 minutes with a “life coach” who pretended to know all about him, induce some tears andthen declare him cured?
bachy
Privacy is a human right that should be cherished – but many don’t recognize its value. As the song goes, You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone.
abfab
And then you wind up with a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin’ hot spot. ( Joni Mitchell never lies)
bachy
I suspect that losing your privacy is more like “paving Paradise and putting up a parking lot,” abbie!
abfab
And she was right! They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum and charging all the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em! We call them Arboretums!
Max123
cry me a river..
Chrisk
Wow. Fame hore gets 15 minutes of fame and then gets depressed about it and then writes book about it. I need a crying emojji.
Openminded
“Most people think that reality television is this ticket to fame and money.”
NO, “Most” people don’t think this way, only people who sign up for reality tv think this. Not much reality about it anymore.
Bonerboy
To be fair, when he was on Real World there really wasn’t any “reality television” yet. JUST Real World…
abfab
Trump signed up for it. Now he’s in court and his head iss sready to explode. Finally.
Fahd
He feels like he feels. I’m not a fan, but I suppose he fits into the category of “child” stars who have to deal with the cooling off of their celebrity. And considering the casualities in that category, I would say that he’s right about aftercare, but MTV? Reality TV?
His comments show how mental health care is such a neglected topic….people don’t have to be provided with a therapist, they can choose to see one; (especially if they have means/insurance) because yes sometimes problems dont disappear with the flip of a switch.
abfab
………..just ask any t r o l l.
Calin
Blah blah blah