Arts & Entertainment
Karamo Brown deletes Twitter after calling Sean Spicer a ‘good guy’
The ‘Queer Eye’ star went on a blocking spree against LGBTQ activists
“Queer Eye” star Karamo Brown has deleted his Twitter account after coming under fire for calling Sean Spicer “a good guy.”
Brown and Spicer will compete on season 28 of “Dancing with the Stars.” In an interview with “Access Hollywood,” Brown refers to the controversial former Trump White House press secretary as āa good guy; a really sweet guy.ā
āActually, no lemme tell you something. Um, Sean Spicer and I have been talking. Yeah, like, literally, I was most excited to meet him because, like the thing is that people would look at us and think that weāre polar opposites but Iām a big believer that if you can talk to someone and meet in the middle that you can learn about each other and help each other both grow. So we have been chatting all day today. Like, heās a good guy, a really sweet guy. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Karamo from ‘Queer Eye’ saying Sean Spicer is a nice guy. I know. I know.ā
Hereās Karamo Brown calling Sean Spicer āa good guy; a really sweet guyā cause whatās morality, really? pic.twitter.com/WQVgfVVkFc
ā Īvan Ross Katz (@evanrosskatz) August 21, 2019
On Twitter, Brown addressed a fan who said they were “disappointed” Brown was “lending his celebrity” to the show with Spicer’s involvement.
āFirst, I have no say who is on the cast and didnāt find out till this morning that he is on!ā Brown tweeted. āBut Iāll tell you thisā¦ Iām excited to sit down w/ him and engage in respectful conversations. Only way things get better is if we try to educate those who have different POV than us.ā
Some people didn’t agree with Brown’s cordial response to Spicer and questioned Brown on Twitter.
Famous queer activists sure do love to turn their backs on the community the moment it benefits them and plays to their privilege (why yes, this IS a subtweet about Karamo Brown agreeing to be on DWTS with Sean Spicer)
ā Lisa Ann Paul (@lapshaffer) August 22, 2019
This is so misguided of ā¦@Karamoā©. We are long past the point of listening and āmeeting in the middleā. This is NOT about politics, itās about morals and truth. We know who he is and what he has done. Playing nice only enables them and rewards them. https://t.co/VOmxg74qTO
ā Scott Nevins (@ScottNevins) August 22, 2019
Karamo Brown is out here trying to pitch a spin-off, āQueer Eye For The Fascist Guyā. pic.twitter.com/WJczq6QzQQ
ā – curtis wiley – (@Curtis_Wiley) August 22, 2019
Journalist Evan Ross Katz tweeted the “Access Hollywood” clip and Brown replied accusing Katz of trying to “flame the fire and get a reaction.”
“I honestly can’t stand people like you who post things like thisā¦just to flame the fire and get a reaction,” Brown posted in a since-deleted tweet. “We [the cast of ‘Queer Eye’] fight harder than your ass ever has for people of color and members of the LGBTQIA community.”
Seems like @Karamo deleted his tweet to @evanrosskatz posting a video of him calling Sean Spicer a nice guy. I got you. Absurd: pic.twitter.com/GmFf4dazBF
ā Eliel Cruz (@elielcruz) August 22, 2019
Brown continued on a blocking spree of Twitter users who disagreed with his comments on Spicer. Many of the people he blocked included people in the LGBTQ community and LGBTQ activists.
I was pretty bummed when @Karamo Brown advocated for Sean Spicer, but Iām fucking livid that heās blocking LGBT+ people who disagree with him…
ā John Zuiker (@Johnzuiker) August 22, 2019
After what heās said about @seanspicer and the fact that heās blocked folks for calling him out on it, itās an honor and a privilege to be blocked by @Karamo Brown.
ā noah michelson (@noahmichelson) August 23, 2019
If youāre considering getting an āemotional or mental makeoverā from this piece of work, reconsider. pic.twitter.com/gC1Afi6cjd
Katz said in a statement to Newsweek, “Interesting is the word I’ll use to see [Brown] throw out support for Spicer while blocking those (many from within his own community) that wish to hold him accountable for normalizing, if not bolstering, this effort to give Spicer a redemptive platform, one which he most certainly does not deserve.”
Brown also blocked LGBTQ activist Eliel Cruz and activist and drag performer Marti Gould Cummings.
“The reason I called out Karamo is because as a member of the LGBTQIA community we have to stand against the workings of [the Trump] administration and the people who are complicit to its actions,” Cummings told Newsweek. “LGBTQIA people are in the crosshairs of this administration and giving a platform to someone who directly worked to spread this agenda is unacceptable. Taking a real stand should outweigh a few episodes on TV and a check.”
Brown’s Twitter account appears to be deleted but it’s unclear if his account has been permanently deleted or just deactivated.
Theater
Signatureās fresh take on classic āForumā
Actor Mike Millan says āitās like a new work in many waysā
āA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forumā
Through Jan. 12
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, Va.
$40-$126
sigtheatre.org
For out actor Mike Millan, Signature Theatreās production of āA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,ā couldnāt feel fresher.
Set in ancient Rome, the 62-year-old Tony-winning hit (music with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart) borrows from Roman comedy, farce, and a dash of bawdy vaudeville to the tales of slaves, soldiers, courtesans, and a lovesick young man.
Millan plays Hysterium, a nervous slave in the House of Senex, whose tagline reads āI live to grovel.ā
āIāve never done āForum,ā so to me itās like a new work in many ways,ā he says. āAnd because itās older and has a classic musical point of view and weāre doing it now, itās as if weāve been given a lovely opportunity to make it our own.ā
And indeed, they are doing just that. Directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner, the Signature production is introducing new bits and playing with gender: the central character Pseudolus, a sly slave role created by Zero Mostel, is played by Erin Weaver; Erronius is played by Sherri Edelen in drag; and two male actors and one nonbinary actor play courtesans.
Though Millan, 35, is based with his partner in Los Angeles, he regularly travels to New York and is pleased to make Signature in Shirlington an additional destination on his bicoastal work journey. Recently, the affable actor took time to talk about Signature and āForum.ā
WASHINGTON BLADE: A little about the brilliantly named Hysterium, please.
MIKE MILLAN: As a gay actor, I can say that Hysterium is one of the gayer characters Iāve ever played. Heās a sort of fop and heās in drag most of the second act. How can you not see him as a queer character?ā
When the part was written it was sort of gay coded and now itās just abundantly clear, you donāt think twice about it.
BLADE: āForumā is unapologetically fun. Is now the right time for a romp?
MILLAN: The show comes with a level of escapism that is really infectious. During these tense times, it feels great to be doing a silly musical. Weāre doing fart jokes in tunics, and the material and jokes really hold up. Youāll feel better leaving than when you came in.
BLADE: All that and a Sondheim score too?
MILLAN: Heās the reason Iām here. In high school, I discovered his āInto the Woodsā and remember locking myself in my room until I knew every word to āGiants in the Sky.ā
āPassion,ā āFollies,ā I love it all. Heās so singular because he writes from a perspective of acting and storytelling; Sondheim touches me in a way that feels quasi-religious.
When I think about the number of times I sang āLast Midnightā alone in my car, it fills me with a joy that Iāve never gotten from any other composer or jukebox musical.
BLADE: In 2022, you played Idina Menzel super fan Jeff in āWhich Way to the Stageā at Signature. Are you glad to be back?
MILLAN: Yes, Iām happy to be employed. Itās a tough business. Not only are we asked to be great singers, dancers, actors, and performers but weāre asked to have a social media presence and to be the most popular kid in school.
Signature provides a safe environment to try something new and different, to experiment with a community that respects doing that. Also at Signature, it never feels like any audience members are being dragged by their partners to see a show. Itās a supportive community.
BLADE: Speaking of partners, do you miss being away from home?
MILLAN: Sometime itās nice to have that time away from each other; it builds a little mystery.
BLADE: Will your performance change between now and January?
MILLAN: In recent years, Iāve changed my acting approach from cracking the code on how to play a character to inviting the audience on a journey and making them part of the process.
I was raised in musical theater, but by doing comedy, standup, and improv, Iāve come to find the joy of failure freeing. And I like being part of a changing show. I like the idea of somebody being able to say āI was there the night Patti LuPone yelled at the guy who took a picture.ā
BLADE: An unexpected moment.
MILLAN: Of course, I go in with certain things I have planned out, but I like the element of excitement that anything might happen. And I think the audience should feel that way too.
The flight over to Barcelona was uneventful and landed on-time in this beautiful city. I was met at the airport by a very nice taxi driver I had pre-arranged through booking.com. He drove me to my hotel, the Barcelona Continental, on the Ramblas. It was a little disappointing. They neglected to tell those booking the road in front of the hotel was dug up and therefore you needed to be let out of the taxi across the Ramblas and had a long walk with your luggage. It is really old and not redone, except for the bathrooms, those are nice. But I would not recommend it.
I was early and they couldnāt get me checked in for a few hours, so had coffee and then met my friend Simone, also staying at the hotel. She had checked in a couple of days earlier and had the same reaction to the hotel I did. But that didnāt stop either one of us from enjoying Barcelona in all its beauty. I donāt sleep on planes, so the first day was spent relaxing and wandering aimlessly past cathedrals, long shopping streets, and wonderful little side streets off the Ramblas. Simone took off to do her shopping with more specific plans. It was an early night for me and we met again in the morning for coffee and spent a wonderful day together, shopping, walking, and seeing some great street performers. Then it was dinner with friends who we would be boarding the ship with the next morning. They kept predicting rain. It did come late at night and continued through us heading to the port to board the ASCENT. Because of the broken-up roadway we got a little wet heading to the taxi stand, which didnāt make us feel any better about the hotel.
It was a short ride to the port, and soon the beautiful ASCENT came into view. Boarding was easy and then suddenly the cruise was beginning. A walk around the ship unveiled some beautiful artwork, and small changes from the rest of the EDGE series ships I have been on. But it still felt like a welcome home. I headed to deck 15 and the Retreat lounge to meet some of the 70 people I would be traveling with. Scott and Dustin of My Lux Cruise had planned a sail-away party for all of us in their beautiful Iconic suite. They will be hosting a number of events during the cruise, which makes them such great travel agents, and friends. Another friend, the extraordinarily talented Andrew Derbyshire, who would be performing that evening, was there. He was on the ship for only one night, getting off in Alicante to head home to the UK the next day.
I joined friends, Scott, Mike, and the irrepressible Jason, for dinner in Luminae, the dining room for the retreat. It was to be a night where dinner came first and then the show. At 9 p.m. we were seated in the third row of the beautiful theater, to hear Andrew. He didnāt disappoint. He is better than ever. He has an incredible voice and such great stage presence. I, and everyone else, were just so sorry he wouldnāt be staying on the cruise with us. He reminded us he has been working with Celebrity for more than eight years and is one of their biggest stars. He also hosts their Pride month events doing so with great panache. As a young man Andrew performed in the West End in London, and has been a star performer for much of his life. Then it was off to The Club for a little disco music, and then off to bed with a satisfied smile on my face to complete day one on the ASCENT.
Day two began with a knock on the door of my cabin with delivery of coffee, juice, and a bagel. I sat down to write, which I do every morning, and then headed to the gym for my first workout on the ship. It was empty, which was great, and the sun had come out and the view from the lifecycle made it fun. After the gym I headed to the retreat lounge and met some friends and had a cappuccino. The sky started to get gray and clearly it was going to rain in Alicante, our first stop. But that didnāt stop anyone from walking around the town. I was getting the best feeling this was going to be a great cruise.
Out & About
DC Center to host queer market
Clothes, shoes, accessories and other items will be available
The DC Center for the LGBT Community will host āMetro Queer Marketā on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. at its offices at 2000 14th St., N.W., Suite 105.
Guests will have the opportunity to check out the centerās closet. Clothes, shoes, accessories and other items will be available.
For more details, visit the DC Centerās website.
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