Is Jonathan Van Ness headed for the same fate as Chrissy Teigen?

What's worse than being a bully? Being a secret one...

I remember when I finally met Jonathan Van Ness in person. I say finally, because through my job at Cosmo, I’d had lots of missed opportunities to be in their orbit.

As a fan of Queer Eye and Jonathan, specifically, when they finally came to London to launch their haircare brand, it’s fair to say I was excited.

Watching them onstage, in the cinema room, at Soho Hotel, I felt something. But, it was so small and backed up with little to no evidence, that I never voiced it.

When we got the opportunity to meet them backstage and have a photograph, that feeling was further cemented. But, again, there really wasn’t anything tangible to base it on.

The problem is, with someone like Jonathan, they’ve created such an open arms persona, that despite not actually knowing them, you expect to be embraced in this warmth.

That day, that feeling I couldn’t quite put my finger on, was a coldness. They were polite, they didn’t do anything wrong per se, but they weren’t warm. There were no conversations had before our picture.

Something felt forced.

Now, of course, JVN could have been having an off day. Travelling cross country and meeting so many new people is draining. But, then again, so is living up to a persona that isn’t actually true to who you are.

When the exposé Rolling Stone article came out last month, with seven former colleagues detailing Jonathan’s behind-the-scenes behaviour, I wasn’t really surprised.

Three of the sources described their behaviour as emotionally “Abusive” and claimed Jonathan had “Rage issues”.

Describing their public persona as “A charade”, one source said:

“[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.”

What lead to this tell-all, was of course the departure of the famous five’s Bobby Berk, who it appears left on bad terms (read that Rolling Stone article for the full details).

Jonathan never issued a statement in response, but a recent Instagram post by them, does nothing to dispel the secret bitch rumours.

jvn

A post shared by @jvn

Posing with Tan, Jonathan captioning the photo, “Doesn’t matter what they say, the jealous games that people play… name that tune…”

Naturally, the comment section went wild. One follower wrote, “I believe what the crew said, especially since you won’t address it JVN! You were my favourite for every season. So disappointed to know who you really are”.

To which Jonathan replied, “Honey, I wish you nothing but health and happiness”.

Making matters worse, Tan jumped into the replies. “… What do you all want? For JVN to make a statement so you can give him the benefit of the doubt? Or you just want to feel part of the drama and destroy him? I think I know the answer to that question.”

Further, solidifying the mean girl behaviour, Tan’s husband then chimes in with, “Everybody is just trusting all of Bobby’s statements with no questions asked?”

At this point, who knows why Bobby left Queer Eye and frankly, who cares. But in these efforts to defend themselves, Tan and Jonathan are making themselves look worse.

After all, those weren’t Bobby’s statements. They were statements from former colleagues who worked with Jonathan. They are the ones quoting them as a “Monster”.

The whole thing reminds me of Chrissy Teigen and how she’s never been able to bounce back since her private DMs were leaked, showing she told a 16-year-old Courtney Stodden to kill themselves.

Before then, Chrissy, like Jonathan, was the darling of the Internet. She could do no wrong. But, now, every time she popped up on my screen at the Grammys, all I could think of, was those messages.

Celebrities have done worse than these two and bounced back, but the problem is, both Chrissy and Jonathan, kind of lied to us, in creating these ‘everybody’s best friend’ personas.

In these scenarios, the fakeness is almost worse than the rudeness, and to me, perfectly explains the vibe I felt on that first meeting.

For me, what made Jonathan so appealing, was this caring personality. Without that, their shine has most definitely dimmed.