Former “Queer Eye” star Karamo Brown is speaking out publicly for the first time after alleging he’d been “emotionally abused for years” and backing out of the press tour for the show’s 10th and final season. In an interview with People published Tuesday, Brown said his decision to forgo January appearances on “CBS Mornings” and NBC’s “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle” at the last minute came after years of toxicity and bullying from his “Queer Eye” co-stars Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness.“Everyone would just say, ‘Well, that’s just that person,’ instead of saying, ‘This behavior does not fly in a professional environment,’” he told the outlet. “It impacted me negatively, consistently.”Brown also claimed he relapsed on drugs and alcohol during the run of the series, and confirmed a longstanding rumor that his mother, Charmaine, had overheard his co-stars speaking negatively about him in 2025 ― an incident he came to see as his turning point. In January, "Queer Eye" star Karamo Brown backed out of promotional appearances for the Netflix series' final season and alleged he'd been "emotionally abused for years."Warner Bros. TV via Getty Images“The thing I know is the tears I saw in my mother’s eyes,” he said. “[She kept repeating], ‘I thought they were your friends.’ It made me realize I can no longer stay silent about how often I was made to feel like an outsider.”Elsewhere in the article, Brown acknowledges he and a “Queer Eye” castmate, whom he declines to identify by name, had a “fun and flirty” relationship during the show’s casting phase, which resulted in a sexual harassment complaint filed against him by a third party.Though he was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing, he said, “I recognize my part and how things I did impacted people. I was not an angel.” But the show’s production company, ITV America, as well as Scout Productions, refuted many of Brown’s claims, telling People in a statement: “We strongly disagree with any characterization that concerns raised during the production of ’Queer Eye′ were ignored, dismissed, or allowed to continue unchecked.”“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 statement continued. Interestingly, Brown’s People interview arrives one day after Variety published a lengthy chat with Porowski, who said he was “left with more questions than answers” with regard to the controversies that had engulfed “Queer Eye” by the end of the show’s run. "Queer Eye" stars Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Jeremiah Brent, Tan France, and Jonathan Van Ness in 2024. Bronson Farr“I refuse to let however it ended be a distraction from the messaging because the messaging, I swear to you, was always real and always coming from a truthful place,” he explained. “That’s what I choose to take with me from it.”“Queer Eye,” a reboot of Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” debuted on Netflix in 2018 to widespread acclaim from critics and fans alike. Over the course of its 10-season run, the makeover series won 12 Emmy Awards and turned its five stars into household names.By 2023, however, cracks in the Fab Five’s feel-good facade began to show. That November, original cast member Bobby Berk stunned fans when he announced his departure from the series after eight seasons. A Rolling Stone exposé published in March 2024 accused France and Porowski of engaging in “mean-girl antics” to get Berk axed from the series and make way for Jeremiah Brent, who joined for the final two seasons. The outlet also spoke to four anonymous “Queer Eye” production sources and three former colleagues who described Van Ness as a “nightmare” and a “monster” who is emotionally “abusive.”France publicly denied having anything to do with Berk’s exit, while Van Ness also spoke out against the troubling claims, calling them “overwhelmingly untrue.”