After a widely reported falling out with his Queer Eye castmates, Karamo Brown says the stress and bullying he felt during Season 3 filming in 2018 pushed him back toward alcohol and drugs—even after 12 years sober. He describes how the relapse unfolded, what
For Karamo Brown, the hardest part of the Queer Eye breakup wasn’t just the silence after the cameras stopped rolling. It was what happened inside him when the drama got personal.
Brown. 45. says he is no longer pals with his “fab five” friends—Jonathan Van Ness. Antoni Porowski. Tan France. and Jeremiah Brent (and Bobby Berk before his departure in 2023). After the final season of the Netflix reboot wrapped. tensions were made public. with reports tying them to a hot mic moment in which Brown’s mom overheard “terrible stuff” said about him.
Now, Brown is opening up about how that environment helped trigger a relapse. After being sober for 12 years. he told People in a new interview that dropped Tuesday that he fell back into alcohol and drug use as a result of stress from bullying and what he described as unaddressed bad behavior from people connected to the production while filming Season 3 in 2018.
“I struggled with not facing my demons and the things I was going through on Queer Eye. It was: ‘I’m stressed from work, meet me at a bar for a drink.’ A drink would lead to weed, cocaine, pills. I wasn’t coping right, but I pretended like I was. I was so broken.”
In Brown’s telling, the relapse wasn’t one dramatic moment—it was a pattern that escalated. He explained that after a couple of beers. he could smoke weed “with you all night and not be able to function. ” and that he might take pills with the group and believe he was feeling euphoria when he wasn’t. He also said he could do cocaine “to keep the party going” and to feel connected—despite knowing it didn’t actually bring the connection he was seeking.
His message from that period is now aimed at other people who may be trying to outrun pain. He said he’s learned that “it’s not the substance you’re struggling with, it’s the feelings underneath that you haven’t focused on.”
Brown emphasized that the relapse happened about a year and a half ago. Since then, he says he has been in a 12-step program and has stayed sober. “Since that day, I’ve not had a single drink, cocktail — nothing. I want to encourage people that there’s a side to not having to drink that is so fun.”
He also previously shared that back in 2006, learning he had a son helped him stop all drugs and alcohol. In this new chapter, Brown’s son Jason is expecting a child—something he says is renewing that same kind of resolve.
“With this journey I’ve been on, I’m making sure that I’m healed not just for me, but also for them. There’s now going to be two generations looking at me.”
Brown’s comments arrive after the long-running “fab five” chemistry took a hit during the run-up to the final season, and they spotlight the toll that professional conflict can take when personal coping tools aren’t working.
If you or someone you know is experiencing substance abuse, help is available. Consider checking out the resources SAMHSA provides at or check out StartYourRecovery.org.
Karamo Brown Queer Eye sobriety relapse Netflix Season 3 bullying Jonathan Van Ness Antoni Porowski Tan France Jeremiah Brent Bobby Berk