Karamo Brown is taking the high road. The Queer Eye star respectfully responded to backlash he received on Wednesday, August 21, after it was announced he is set to join the cast of Dancing With the Stars alongside Sean Spicer.
“I’m actually disappointed in @Karamo for lending his celebrity to this,” one Twitter user wrote in reference to the controversial casting of President Donald Trump’s former white house press secretary.
Brown, 38, replied: “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.”
The Real World alum also spoke out about people’s negative reactions toward Spicer, 47, during an interview with Access on Wednesday, calling the politician a “good guy, really sweet guy,” which didn’t sit well with Twitter users either.
In response to one social media user who compared Brown’s comments to Queer Eye costar Jonathan Van Ness previously calling Mitt Romney “sexy,” Brown tweeted, “I honestly can’t stand people like you who post things like this and you reposted some bs about a comment Jonathan said… just to flame the fire and get a reaction.”
“We fight harder than your ass ever has for people of color and members of the LGBTQIA community,” he added.
Shortly after the celebrities competing on season 28 of the hit reality dance show were announced, longtime host Tom Bergeron spoke out about Spicer, agreeing with those saying the casting wasn’t a good decision.
“It is the prerogative of the producers, in partnership with the network, to make whatever decisions they feel are in the best long term interests of the franchise,” the TV host, 64, wrote. “We can agree to disagree, as we do now, but ultimately it’s their call. I’ll let it to them to answer any further questions about those decisions.”
DWTS executive producer Andrew Llinares issued a statement to Us Weekly on Wednesday that read: “We’ve got a great and diverse cast. We are excited about the season.”
Dancing With the Stars premieres on ABC Monday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET.
