Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness broke their silence on the recent allegations about their behavior on set.
“There was this article that was written about Queer Eye and myself in March, but our whole Queer Eye family had first learned about this article in December,” Van Ness, 37, said during the Wednesday, June 26, episode of the “Table Manners” podcast. “I went from this bankruptcy [of my JVN Hair line] to then, ‘Oh, there’s someone who’s going to write an investigative takedown, like, exposé piece about you that isn’t really based in reality but can certainly have a lot of things taken out of context to like make you look as bad as possible.’”
They continued, “So from January to March, I was just walking on eggshells being like, ‘When is this going to happen?’ And then it did finally happen. One thing it taught me was that I had been getting so much self-esteem from social [media] and my job that I didn’t really think that I did get so much self-esteem from it.”
Rolling Stone published an exposé in March, sharing anonymous complaints about Van Ness’ behavior. Van Ness was accused of having “intense and scary” anger issues on the set of Queer Eye. At the time, the hairstylist did not address the complaints.
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“I think a lot of people were looking for a reason to hate me or looking for a reason to be like, ‘See, I always knew that they were a fake c—t and this was, like, the proof,’” Van Ness added during Wednesday’s episode. “My family was so supportive, and my husband [Mark London] and my team, but I didn’t even get on social media to look at my phone for, like, three weeks and anytime I tried to dip my toe in, I would immediately see something that was so intensely hurtful.”
Van Ness stressed that the accusations were “overwhelmingly untrue” and claimed the Rolling Stone article was “done in bad faith” before detailing how they coped with the online backlash.
“That article came at an incredibly vulnerable time. It was really rough,” Van Ness added, further denying the claims. “There’s obviously been times in my career when I’ve been stressed out and elbow-deep in highlights and like, ‘No, I can’t talk about that right now.’ I know there’s been times where I could have been better.”
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According to Van Ness, they “internalized” the accusations “so badly.”
“It forced me to really learn how to slow down, disengage and really love myself,” Van Ness said. “Sometimes loving yourself looks like feeling your feelings and being sad. It just kind of paralyzed me.”
Van Ness resumed filming the next season of Queer Eye — which features Jeremiah Brent after Bobby Berk’s dramatic exit — weeks after the report was published. “It was intense,” Van Ness recalled.
