'Queer Eye' Star Karamo Brown Offers Surprise Defense Of 'Sweet Guy' Sean Spicer
“Queer Eye” star Karamo Brown has come under fire for defending Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary and Brown’s co-contestant on the upcoming season of “Dancing With the Stars.”
Brown responded Wednesday to a Twitter user’s criticism that he was “lending his celebrity” to the “public rehabilitation” of Spicer, who as press secretary was scrutinized for repeatedly lying on behalf of the Trump administration. Brown said that, though he had “no say” on the casting for the reality show, he was “excited to sit down” with Spicer and engage in “respectful conversations.”
“Only way things get better is if we try to educate those who have different POV than us,” Brown tweeted.
First, I have no say who is on the cast and didn’t find out till this morning that he is on! But I’ll tell you this... I’m excited to sit down w/ him and engage in a respectful conversations. Only way things get better is if we try to educate those who have different POV than us.
— Karamo Brown (@Karamo) August 21, 2019
Brown also showed his support of Spicer when he told “Access Hollywood” in an interview that he’d found him to be “nice” and “very sweet.”
“I’m a big believer that if you can talk to someone and meet in the middle, you can learn about each other and help each other both grow. We have been chatting all day today ― he’s a good guy, a really sweet guy,” he said of Spicer.
Who gave you permission, haters? #QueerEye's @Karamo is defending his fellow #DWTS contestant Sean Spicer: "He's a good guy." ❤️️ pic.twitter.com/A1wDdFFZi2
— Access (@accessonline) August 21, 2019
Brown’s remarks got a cool reception on social media, with many users calling the reality star out for “normalizing” Spicer and his earlier work in the White House.
Several on Twitter called for Brown to quit the show.
″[H]ear me out. You can walk away in protest,” writer David Duran tweeted. “You don’t need that show and you’d be doing a way bigger thing for our community by quitting vs trying to have a conversation with someone who will not listen. You’re better than this.”
Here’s Karamo Brown calling Sean Spicer “a good guy; a really sweet guy” cause what’s morality, really? pic.twitter.com/WQVgfVVkFc
— Ξvan Ross Katz (@evanrosskatz) August 21, 2019
Sean Spicer has done nothing to earn us calling him “a nice guy” and we don’t need people normalizing him so he can rehabilitate his image and profit.
— Alex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) August 22, 2019
Karamo what? This man is complicit in, and continues to defend all the actions of the Trump adminstration. You can’t just say he’s a good guy now until he’s been held accountable. pic.twitter.com/y2kLVfDBm6
— Ashly Perez (@itsashlyperez) August 22, 2019
I would love for you to have that conversation, Karamo. I think it could be hugely beneficial. But respectfully, don't you think that's a conversation you could initiate without legitimizing Spicer's post-White House celebrity?
— Huccession: Season 2 (@TylerHuckabee) August 21, 2019
Nah- you gotta dance his ass right off of that show then sit down and talk with him. It’s a shame that they would allow someone who was so dangerous to our democracy be on the same stage as you.
— Liz Jenkins (@ej11lizzie) August 21, 2019
I would never speak to a man that defended this administration, and even worse, defended Hitler. He still supports an administration that is letting children die in detention. We clearly have a different set of ethics. https://t.co/brihOoC3UC
— MB (@Sugarcubedog) August 21, 2019
Or...hear me out. You can walk away in protest. You don’t need that show and you’d be doing a way bigger thing for our community by quitting vs trying to have a conversation with someone who will not listen. You’re better than this.
— David Duran (@mrdavidduran) August 21, 2019
For sure. I don’t think any of us are suggesting to not engage in respectful conversations with them. What we are saying is it’s disrespectful to our country to have a man who lied at the behest of Americans and ABC and DWTS wish to profit off of it.
— Dennis Connors (@Dennis_Connors) August 21, 2019
As Advocate magazine noted, Brown has stoked political controversy in the past. In 2018, he was chastised by his “Queer Eye” co-star Jonathan Van Ness after raving about a “phenomenal” meeting he’d had with the staff of Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence.
Months later, Brown appeared to hint at a political divide with his “Queer Eye” castmates when he chose to skip the Fab 5′s April meeting with Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
“The thing I love about the #Fab5 the most is that we all don’t hold the same view but we respect each other and the process,” Brown tweeted at the time. “For me, its important to champion leaders who understand the importance of speaking the truth and who also understand that our democracy is a bipartisan system & in order to see sustainable change.”
“U must find a way to work w/ the other side while not disrespecting your own party,” he continued.
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