Everything We Know About the Bobby Berk 'Queer Eye' Drama

It's been one year since Bobby Berk announced his exit from Queer Eye, and some fans are still speculating as to whether his departure was entirely voluntary. It all started in November 2023, when Berk posted a carousel on Instagram revealing that season 8 would be his last.

"To the Queer Eye Community who have become family to me: the love that I have received from you all over the last 6 years has been absolutely surreal," he wrote. "You have tuned in and been dedicated fans and together we were able to share the healing powers of design. I learned from you all about kindness, love and acceptance and that has changed my life for the better."

Unfortunately, Berk's heartfelt message was quickly overshadowed when he unfollowed his co-star, Tan France, on Instagram, which seemed to confirm pre-existing rumors that the two weren't getting along. A few months later, Netflix announced Berk's replacement would be Jeremiah Brent—a.k.a. France's friend—and, finally, the speculation reached a fever pitch. Was France involved in Berk's departure? And are the two still on bad terms? Ahead, everything we know about the ongoing Queer Eye drama.

Tan France denies any involvement.

France resisted the urge to publicly comment on the supposed drama between him and Berk for roughly four months, but when Rolling Stone published its bombshell investigation in March, he took to Instagram to respond.

"I just want to address one point real quick," he said in a video. "My former colleague getting fired had nothing to do with me trying to get my friend hired."

There's just one problem with France's statement: Berk wasn't fired. At least, not according to him.

Berk claims it was his decision to leave Queer Eye.

After his big announcement in November 2023, Berk sat down with Vanity Fair in January to set the record straight. According to the interior designer, it was actually agreed upon by everyone in the Fab Five that they would leave when their contracts expired in September 2022. Facing Hollywood strikes and a dwindling content library, however, Netflix offered to extend the show for four more cycles. Berk declined as per the plan, but his co-stars decided to sign on for additional seasons. He was mad "for a second."

"Each one of us had our reasons why we did what we did," he explained.

France and Berk had "a moment."

Spoiler alert: the "moment" was a bad one. Though their beef was made public by Berk's unfollowing of France on Instagram, the pair had actually been at odds for a while, at least according to Berk. In the same Vanity Fair profile, he revealed that "there was a situation."

"That's between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show," Berk continued. "It was something personal that had been brewing—and nothing romantic, just to clarify that."

Admittedly, Berk's claims that his beef with France has nothing to do with Queer Eye was undermined when he unfollowed France on the same day as his departure announcement. "That day, I was angry, and that's the end of it," he said.

The Fab Five may not be all that fab.

Rolling Stone dropped more than one bomb when they published their investigation of the Fab Five drama. According to sources who spoke to the magazine anonymously, the group isn't actually close at all, and only keeps up the pretense of friendship for the sake of publicity. (The exception? France and Antoni Porowski, who are apparently real-life friends.) Jonathan Van Ness, meanwhile, was described as a "monster" and a "nightmare" on set.

Perhaps the only cast member to come to Berk's aid—publicly, at least—was Karamo Brown, who lamented Berk's departure in a comment on his Instagram post. "I'm about to be at Netflix's door & e-mails telling them you can't leave!" He wrote. "Who is coming with me?"

Read the original article on InStyle