The drama is ON over at Queer Eye, and it’s all happening off camera! Hot on the heels of Netflix announcing that Jeremiah Brent would replace Bobby Berk as resident interior designer, Rolling Stone has published a deep dive into all the workplace fractures that led to this moment. Production sources pretty much singled out Jonathan Van Ness. Van Ness — whom Rolling Stone cited as using they/he/she pronouns; all pronouns excerpted below appear as printed in the article — provides the beauty & hairstyling expertise, and is arguably the show’s biggest breakout star personality. But it seems that luxuriously coiffed veneer has been hiding a short-tempered diva. Dun Dun DUN!
Boy band energy: “It’s not a new story that a boy band falls apart,” says one Queer Eye production member, who, like the others, requested anonymity, citing NDAs and career repercussions. “Essentially they were a group of people put together in their mid-thirties and told to be best friends. … That’s truly what it was: a manufactured boy band with big personalities that certain ones were favored and certain ones were not, and then eventually [things] turned really toxic.”
Sounds like Van Ness has some anger issues: Four Queer Eye production sources and three sources who worked with Van Ness said the reality star was terrible to work with, using words like “monster,” “nightmare,” and “demeaning” to describe them. Three people labeled Van Ness as emotionally “abusive” and having “rage issues,” and all seven sources said the star would lash out at crew members and people who worked closely with Van Ness. “[There’s] a real emotion of fear around them when they get angry. It’s almost like a cartoon where it oozes out of them,” one source who worked with Van Ness explains. “It’s intense and scary.”
The daily yell: “Jonathan’s a person who contains multitudes and who has the capacity to be very warm, very charismatic, and has the capacity to make you feel really special that they are paying attention to you,” one source who worked with Van Ness explains. “But at least once a day, they would need to yell at somebody. It might be something small, but there’s always going to be somebody to point out and blame and make the villain of the day.” … Other members could also be difficult at moments, but Van Ness stood out in terms of unprofessionalism, with his various moods dictating how the day would go, two sources say.
No real consequences: Netflix executives had at least one meeting with Van Ness over her behavior and treatment of the crew, two sources with knowledge tell Rolling Stone. Yet it seemed to result in little change, sources claim. “The apparatus of [the show’s production company] ITV and Netflix promotes Jonathan and actively rewards them for their bad behavior,” one of those sources adds. “There’s no accountability at all,” a third person who has worked with Van Ness says.
Shooting Season 8 in New Orleans was brutal: The schedule itself was intensive, filming from June to September with little downtime in humid temperatures. Crew members considered unionizing over alleged construction and safety issues due to rushed renovations, according to one show source. … And there were serious safety issues after assailants carjacked a production vehicle, yanking a production assistant from a SUV and taking off in her car, according to show sources and The Hollywood Reporter. Filming was halted for two days, and ITV hired additional security after the Fab Five threatened to walk away from the shoot if everyone’s safety wasn’t prioritized. … It all seemed like the perfect time to wind the series down. “After New Orleans, everyone was like, ‘I think we’re gonna end it,’” one production source recalls.
Oh my goodness, Netflix should totally release a special The Making of Queer Eye Season 8: Big Struggle in the Big Easy. And applause to the executive producers for approving the transplant of five fiery personalities, plus an entire production crew, into a Gulf state… in the summer. There’s no tense situation that can’t be improved with humility humidity. No really, I went to NoLa in early May once and we were so hot and sticky that we voluntarily paid to see Alien: Covenant in a theater. Just to get into that AC!
As for Van Ness, am I surprised? No. But I’m still disappointed. Come on Jonathan, it takes more energy to throw a tantrum and make coworkers’ lives miserable than it does to treat people with kindness and respect. If I were Brent I would be checking with my lawyers right now to see if I had any wiggle room to back out.
Photos credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman/Netflix, FayesVision/Wenn/Avalon, Faith Moran/Backgrid