Tan France has denied he was involved in Bobby Berk being “fired” from Queer Eye.
- READ MORE: Why did Bobby Berk leave ‘Queer Eye’?
In November last year, the interior designer announced he was to depart from Queer Eye after its eighth season. He has appeared on the hit Netflix revival since its first season along with France, Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski and Karamo Brown.
Though he did not give an official reason for his leaving, an explosive Rolling Stone report has claimed Berk fought with hairstylist Jonathan Van Ness and fashion designer Tan France on set. It also accused the latter of campaigning “to replace Berk with interior designer and friend Jeremiah Brent”, according to three sources.
Now, France has addressed the rumours on an Instagram reel. In the video, France said: “My former colleague getting fired has nothing to do with me trying to get my friend hired. Netflix and the production companies did a full-on casting. I didn’t put my friend up for the job. They ended up getting it because they were the best person for the job.”
France further said the rumours started from “a comment from a gossip blog” that has “become gospel”. “From the horse’s mouth, I’m telling you that’s not at all how it went down,” he added. “That’s all I’ll say on the matter. You need to dig deeper if you still don’t believe me – so be it, but that’s it.”
Berk seemingly responded in a now-deleted Tweet of a gif of Michelle Obama, which includes her catchphrase: “When they go low, we go high!”
Rumours of a fight between France and Berk were lit when fans noticed the pair weren’t following each other on Instagram, despite following every other Queer Eye co-host. Speculation was further lit when US Weekly reported Berk’s departure was due to not “vibing with the cast”, though another source told the same publication the decision was “amicable”.
Berk has since addressed rumours of a falling out with France, stating that “Tan and I – we will be fine”.
“There was a situation, and that’s between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show,” he continued. “It was something personal that had been brewing – and nothing romantic, just to clarify that.”
That same Rolling Stone report also accused Van Ness of “rage issues” on set, with four production sources and three other of Van Ness’ colleagues calling them as a “monster”, “nightmare” and “demeaning”.
Another source said Van Ness’ attitude resulted in a breakdown in relationships with other Fab Five members, saying: “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.”
