“A lot of people were looking for a reason to hate me”

Strange Eye Star Jonathan van Ness is speaking out about an investigation that he created a toxic work environment on Netflix's makeover series.

Earlier this year, rolling stone published an investigation citing different sources who worked with Van Ness. The report said the grooming expert was emotionally “abusive,” was called a “monster” and alleged he had “rage issues.”

“Our entire Queer Eye family first heard about this article in December,” Van Ness said on the latest episode of Table manners podcast. “I heard… 'There's someone who's going to write an investigative article about you that's not really based in reality, but can definitely take a lot of things out of context to make you look as bad as possible.' So it could go down any day. Just so you know.'

Van Ness said he had been “walking on eggshells” until the report was released in March 2024, adding: “I think a lot of people were looking for a reason to hate me or to say, 'See, I always knew she was a fake bitch and here is proof My family was very supportive of my husband and my team but I didn't even use social media, I didn't even look at my phone for three weeks. »

The Netflix star continued: “I think people forget that no matter how famous you are, you're still a person. This article came at an incredibly vulnerable time, as it has for my hair care company, for my entire career. It was really hard. »

Strange EyeThe cast also includes Antoni Porowski, Karamo Brown and Tan France. Bobby Berk left the series and Jeremiah Brent took over his role.

“While I believe this article was completely false and written in bad faith, there have been times in my career when I was stressed,” Van Ness said. “Or I was immersed in the highlights and I was like, 'No, I can't talk about that right now.' I know there were times I could have been better. »