Karamo Karega Brown (born November 2, 1980) is an American
television host
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...
,
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
personality, author, actor, and
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
. Brown began his career in 2004 on the MTV
reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...
show ''
The Real World: Philadelphia'', becoming the first
openly gay
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
black man cast on a reality show.
He currently stars as the culture expert in the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series ''
Queer Eye''.
In September 2022, Brown began hosting an eponymous talk show titled ''
Karamo'' for
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primari ...
.
Personal life
Brown was born in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and has three older sisters. He is of Jamaican and Cuban descent. He came out as gay at age 15. Brown grew up in
Coral Springs, Florida
Coral Springs, officially the City of Coral Springs, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is located approximately northwest of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. C ...
and graduated from
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSDH or MSD) is a State school, public Secondary school, high school in Parkland, Florida, United States. It was established in 1990 and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is named aft ...
in
Parkland in 1999.
Following the
shooting
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...
at the school in 2018, Brown became an active member of the
Never Again MSD
Never Again MSD is an American student-led political action committee for gun control that advocates for tighter regulations to prevent gun violence. The organization, also known by the Twitter hashtags #NeverAgain, and #EnoughIsEnough, was fo ...
movement started by the students, advocating for new
gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
legislation. He graduated from
Florida A&M University
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...
, a
historically black university
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
, and worked in social services for nearly a decade after ''The Real World''.
In 2007, Brown was notified that he was the father of a ten-year-old boy, Jason, receiving custody of him that year. Brown adopted Jason's half-brother Chris in 2010. Brown moved to Los Angeles with his two sons in 2011 where they currently reside.
In May 2018, Brown became engaged to his partner of eight years, director Ian Jordan. They split amicably around June 2020.
Career
Karamo was most known for his television debut on the
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
reality series ''
The Real World: Philadelphia'' in 2004, becoming the first out gay black man on reality TV.
[ He later competed in the '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II'', where he was eliminated in episode six.
Brown made a return to reality television on TV One's '' The Next 15'' in 2016, which followed him and five other reality stars.] Brown was a contributing host on HLN's ''Dr. Drew On Call
''Dr. Drew On Call'', previously titled ''Dr. Drew'', was an American current affairs program hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky that aired Monday through Thursday nights on HLN. The program premiered on Monday, April 4, 2011, and aired Monday through Th ...
'', YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
's ''The Young Turks
''The Young Turks'' (TYT) is an American progressive news commentary show on YouTube that additionally appears on selected television channels. TYT serves as the flagship program of the TYT Network, a multi-channel network of associated web se ...
'', served as host and producer of HuffPost Live
HuffPost Live was an Internet-based video streaming network run by ''The Huffington Post'', a news website in the United States. The network produced original programming as well as live conversations among users via platforms such as Skype and G ...
for ''Huffington Post'' and as a recurring guest host of ''Access Hollywood Live
''Access Hollywood'', formerly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created ...
''. In 2014, Brown became a host and segment producer for the ''Own Show''.
Brown hosted MTV's '' Are You The One: Second Chances''. Brown is the culture expert in the Netflix revival of '' Queer Eye''. The first season was released on Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
in February 2018.
Brown published a memoir in March 2019 titled ''Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope''. In June 2019, Brown appeared in Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
's "You Need to Calm Down
"You Need to Calm Down" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on June 14, 2019, as the second single from her seventh studio album, ''Lover'' (2019). The fourteenth track on the album, Swift wrote and prod ...
" music video.
In 2019 Brown competed on the 28th season of celebrity dance competition ''Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
''. He was paired with professional dancer Jenna Johnson
Jenna Leigh Johnson (born September 11, 1967) is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist.
As a 16-year-old, Johnson represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. She won three m ...
. Brown and Johnson were the fourth couple eliminated. Another competitor on the show was former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer
Sean Michael Spicer (born September 23, 1971) is a former American political aide who served as the 30th White House Press Secretary and as White House Communications Director under President Donald Trump in 2017. Spicer was communications dire ...
, who was seen as a divisive and controversial choice. Brown publicly came to "defend" him "calling him 'a good guy' and 'a friend.' He even said that he 'was proud of him.' " Brown was criticized by many, including author Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection '' Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayit ...
for normalizing Spicer and his work in the White House. Brown said he did not appreciate Spicer serving as a mouthpiece for many lies in service of Trump. His trailer at ''DWTS'' shared a wall with him; Brown strategically had transgender friends over, and invited Spicer to socialize. Later he would tell Spicer how the actions and policies against LGBTQ rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
affect those people. Brown explained he felt he could connect with Spicer as “he has the capacity to find out where others are coming from and to help them become more open-minded and educated."
Starting in 2018, Brown shared some of his best advice about promoting self-esteem to students at multiple universities.
In November 2019, Brown's children's book, ''I Am Perfectly Designed'', written with Jason "Rachel" Brown and illustrated by Anoosha Syed, was published by Henry Holt. Jason said that the title of the book stemmed from Brown always saying it to Jason growing up.
In 2020, Karamo Brown teamed up with Honest Company alumni to create MANTL, a premium personal care brand for bald and or balding men.
In 2020, Brown was named to the ''Ebony'' Power 100 List.
He judged an episode of ''Is It Cake?
''Is It Cake?'' is a 2022 game show style cooking competition television series created by Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz, and hosted by Mikey Day. The series premiered on Netflix on March 18, 2022. Contestants create cakes that replicate comm ...
'', which premiered on Netflix in March 2022.
Brown guest-hosted several episodes of '' Maury'' in the 2021–22 season. In March 2022, Brown was announced as host Maury Povich
Maurice Richard Povich (born January 17, 1939) is an American retired television personality, best known for hosting the tabloid talk show '' Maury'' which aired from 1991 to 2022. Povich began his career as a radio reporter, initially at WWD ...
's successor; Povich retired and Brown hosted a new talk show for NBCUniversal Television Distribution
NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (a.k.a. NUSS), formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution (a.k.a. NUTD), Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV, is the television syndication division of NBCUnive ...
, with ''Karamo'' starting recording in August and premiering September 19.
Activism
In 2014, Brown partnered with the pharmaceutical company Janssen as part of the Positively Fearless campaign to empower the gay and bisexual community.
In 2015, Brown co-founded 6in10.org, an organization that works to combat HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
stigma and provides mental health support and HIV education to the black LGBT community.[ Karamo volunteers as a youth counselor at the ]Los Angeles LGBT Center
The Los Angeles LGBT Center (previously known as the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center) is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, soc ...
.[ Brown has also partnered with the ]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
and the National Black Justice Coalition
The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is an American civil rights organization serving primarily Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Since 2003, NBJC has collaborated with national civil rights groups and LGBT orga ...
as their health and wellness ambassador.[ It was primarily focused on the Black ]LGBTQ
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
community due to the fact that Brown felt as if that community specifically got overlooked most of the time. Their mission was to eradicate the 6 in 10 HIV statistic plaguing gay and bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
Black men by providing tailored mental health support.
He was invited by the Obama Administration
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...
to work with the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
to create policies and legislations that helped with supporting the aspiring LGBTQ youth and their community along with their allies after school hours. He worked directly with President Barack Obama to support the president Obama Foundation and the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.
In April 2018, he joined Creative Coalition members in traveling to Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
to petition legislators and the office of Second Lady Karen Pence
Karen Sue Pence ( Batten, formerly Whitaker; born January 1, 1957) is an American schoolteacher, painter, and was the second lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021. She is married to the 48th vice president of the United States, Mike Penc ...
for increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
. He is also a national co-chair for Health Care Voter. Brown's activism
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...
does not remain local; he travels around the country to speak and host focus groups with HIV organizations, churches, and schools to address the issues the LGBTQ community is facing.
Awards and honors
* 2018 Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
Visibility Award[
* 2020 ]Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
Nominated for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program
Filmography
Television and web
Film
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Karamo
1980 births
Florida A&M University alumni
Living people
American gay actors
LGBT African Americans
LGBT people from Florida
LGBT people from Texas
People from Houston
The Real World (TV series) cast members
The Challenge (TV series) contestants
American people of Cuban descent
American people of Jamaican descent
People from Coral Springs, Florida
African-American male actors
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people
Television personalities from Texas
Television personalities from Florida