This Jonathan Van Ness Report Is Heartbreaking

Jonathan Van Ness has been a bright light in Queer Eye for their positivity and connection with the subject, but that may have all been a lie. That is, if the new bombshell Rolling Stone story has anything to say about it.

In the report, Rolling Stone says “10 Queer Eye production members and well-placed sources” told them Van Ness’ behind-the-scenes behavior made filming nearly impossible and called them “abusive” with “rage issues.” They went on to use words like “monster,” “nightmare,” and “demeaning” to describe how Van Ness would treat the production staff, and they said that Van Ness would lash out at those around them daily.

One particular quote says, “[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. It’s intense and scary.” Another production source described Van Ness as “a yeller.” (Van Ness uses they/he/she pronouns, so some of the quotes from staff use them interchangeably.)

“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 said. “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.” 

This behavior then, seemingly, caused tension between the rest of the Fab Five: “There was absolutely tension between everybody else, especially from Jonathan Van Ness. He didn’t want to ever share the spotlight with anyone. There were times when we couldn’t even shoot scenes with certain members of the Fab Five together because it got so bad.” 

The Rolling Stone story highlights exactly why this is so disappointing, as another source told them, “There’s a definite contrast between the principles and the values that Jonathan stands for publicly. They’re really centered around having this warmth, love, and care for other people. There’s a real contrast between that and the way that they treat the people who are closest to them across the board. It’s the opposite of what this person is touted and paid to be.” 

This truly hurts to hear

I am someone who very much loved Van Ness. As a fellow ice skating super fan, I connected with their love of the sport and wanted to try their products because I trusted the image they were putting out into the world. If the reports of Van Ness being at the center of a hostile work environment are true, it makes that love I have for them feel disingenuous because that’s not who I wanted to support.

Van Ness’ public persona is bubbly and heartfelt, and they project an air about them that makes you feel safe and like you can tell them anything. Hearing stories of how they would scream at people on set decidedly does not make me feel that way.

(featured image: Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images)