Karamo Brown

Karamo Brown
Born (1980-11-02) November 2, 1980
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Residence Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater Florida A&M University
Occupation TV personality, activist
Home town Coral Springs, Florida, U.S.
Partner(s) Ian Jordan (engaged)
Children 2

Karamo Brown (born November 2, 1980)is an American television host, reality television personality, psychotherapist,[1] and activist. Brown began his career in 2004 on the MTV reality show The Real World: Philadelphia.[2] He currently stars as the culture expert in the Netflix series Queer Eye.[3]

Personal life

Brown was born in Houston, Texas to Jamaican parents and has three older sisters.[4] He came out as gay at age 15.[5] Brown grew up in Coral Springs, Florida and graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 1999.[6][7] Following the shooting at the school in 2018, Brown became an active member of the Never Again MSD movement started by the students, advocating for new gun safety legislation. He graduated from Florida A&M University, a historically black university, and worked as a social worker for nearly a decade after The Real World.[8]

In 2007, Brown was notified that he was the father of a 10 year-old boy, Jason, receiving custody of him that year. Brown adopted Jason's half brother Chris in 2010. Brown moved back to Los Angeles with his two sons in 2011 where they currently reside.[9] In May 2018, Brown became engaged to his partner of eight years, director Ian Jordan.[10]

Career

Karamo started his career in television on the MTV reality series The Real World: Philadelphia in 2004, becoming the first out gay black man on reality TV.[2] He later competed in the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II, where he was eliminated in episode 6. Brown made a return to reality television on TV One's The Next 15 in 2016, which followed Brown and five other reality stars.[11]

Brown was a contributing host on HLN's Dr. Drew On Call, YouTube's The Young Turks,[9] served as host and producer of HuffPost Live for Huffington Post and as a recurring guest host of Access Hollywood Live. In 2014, Brown became a host and segment producer for the Own Show.[12]

He hosted MTV's Are You The One: Second Chances.[13] Brown currently plays the role of the culture expert in the Netflix revival of Queer Eye. The first season was released on Netflix in February 2018.[3]

Activism

Brown co-founded 6in10.org, an organization that works to combat HIV stigma and provides mental health support and HIV education to the black LGBT community.[13] Karamo volunteers as a youth counselor at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.[9] Brown has also partnered with the Center for Disease Control and the National Black Justice Coalition as their health and wellness ambassador.[11] In 2014, Brown partnered with the pharmaceutical company Janssen as part of the Positively Fearless campaign to empower the gay and bisexual community.[14] In April 2018, he joined Creative Coalition members in traveling to Capitol Hill to petition legislators and the office of Second Lady Karen Pence for increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.[15]

Awards and honors

Filmography

Television

Selected filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2005Real World/Road Rules ChallengeHimself7 episodes
2007The DL ChroniclesAgent #1Episode: "Robert"
2012-2013BethennyHimself – Panelist/Correspondent4 episodes
2013-2014Where the Bears Are!Ronnie Bishop/ Reporter7 episodes
2014-2016Dr. Drew on CallHimself – Host/Correspondent/Panelist54 episodes
2015Huffpost LiveHimself – Host8 episodes
2015Steam Room StoriesKaramo4 episodes
2015Love & Hip Hop: HollywoodHimselfEpisode: "Out in Hip Hop"
2016Access Hollywood LiveHimself - Host7 episodes
2016The Next :15Himself7 episodes
2017Are You the One: Second ChancesHimself - HostSeries regular, 10 episodes
2018The Real Princess Diaries: From Diana to MeghanHimselfTV Movie documentary
2018Queer EyeHimselfSeries regular, 16 episodes
2018Nailed It!HimselfContestant, Episode: "Bonus: 3, 2, 1, Ya Done"

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2001The Princess DiariesSchool DrummerFilm
2014LeanKaramoShort film
2018Visible: The LGBTQ Caribbean DiasporaHimself

References

  1. ↑ Song, Sandra (June 22, 2018). "Karamo Brown Had To Be Told To Stop Making People Cry On 'Queer Eye'". Nylon. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Anderson-Minshall, Jacob (July 24, 2017). "How Did Karamo Brown find his way back to Hollywood?". Plus. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Hall, Gerrad (December 8, 2017). "Meet the new Queer Eye Fab 5 in this first look". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  4. ↑ Martens, Joel (October 13, 2014). "Karamo Brown- OWNing your life". Rage Monthly.
  5. ↑ "To Gay or Not Too Gay". Queer Eye. Season 1. Episode 4. February 7, 2018. Netflix.
  6. ↑ Epstein, Rachel (April 3, 2018). "Karamo Brown Is More Than Just a Culture Expert". Marie Claire. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Wright, John (April 2, 2018). "Houston Native, Marjory Stoneman Grad and 'Queer Eye' Star Karamo Brown Headlines HRC Gala". OutSmart.
  8. ↑ Pardee, Lauren. "'Queer Eye' Star Karamo Brown Opens Up About Discovering He Had a 10-Year-Old Son".
  9. 1 2 3 Reynolds, Daniel (January 29, 2015). "A Gay Real World Star's Unexpected Journey to Fatherhood". The Advocate. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  10. ↑ Falcone, Dana Rose (May 9, 2018). "Queer Eye's Karamo Brown Is Engaged to Director Ian Jordan". People. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  11. 1 2 Smith, Rob (February 10, 2016). "'The Next 15' Star Karamo Brown Talks Being A Gay Dad, Reality TV Drama, and 'Crazy-Ass' New York". Queerty. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  12. ↑ Pardee, Lauren (2018). "'Queer Eye' Star Karamo Brown Opens Up About Discovering He Had a 10-Year-Old Son". Parents. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  13. 1 2 Scott, Sydney (March 30, 2017). "Karamo Brown Has Come A Long Way Since 'The Real World' And There's More Up His Sleeve". Essence. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  14. ↑ Walden, Tiffany (September 14, 2016). "Positively Fearless: Fighting HIV stigma". The Miami Times.
  15. ↑ Adrienne Wichard-Edds (April 30, 2018). "Tim Daly, Richard Schiff Stump for Arts Funding on Capitol Hill". The Hollywood Reporter.
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