I haven't seen this stuff in years.
The last time I saw any clip from Real World was 2006.
This is going to be good.
Yeah. Hey friends, it's Karamo from Netflix's Queer Eye,
and I'm about to take a trip down memory lane
and watch clips from my season of The Real World.
I have not seen this in at least 15 years.
I'm a little nervous.
Hi, my name's Karamo, I'm 23 and I'm from Houston Texas.
Oh my gosh. I took the closet doors off of that apartment.
I'm a little sexy about this.
Oh my gosh. I didn't own that basketball.
I had to go find it from someone.
Pick up a roommate at the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Oh, Mel. She and I are still close.
She is actually a phenomenal teacher,
and just had a little baby girl.
I love Mel, but I always was pissed off that they made me
run up those stairs, like to do this day.
Jeans and these high heels and this cute little tank top.
So I'm like oh, okay. We've got a supermodel roommate.
Oh my gosh. No wonder they thought I was straight
because I was over here flirting with girls to the camera.
I'm so gay. Why were those clothes so baggy?
I did love a cute jacket. That jacket was cute.
Oh my gosh, MJ.
I have not seen that man since I moved out the house.
That house I remember walking in and thinking to myself
there's a tree in my living room.
What in the world? Oh, Shavanda.
She's still fine to this day, and I'm not flirting.
Asking me about me and Shawn's relationship.
Oh my God. I remember this date.
I wasn't hiding my sexuality. I had been very clear.
I've been open and out since I was 15.
I say oh, so you date inter racially.
He says ...
That hairline was everything, though. I love the reaction.
To this day I still feel like a producer
sent Willie over in the moment for that
because I was like how did I just say I'm gay,
and then all of a sudden the other gay roommate come in.
Oh my gosh, that moment I still remember feeling like this
is a moment where people are going to
get to see someone who they've never seen.
They've only seen on Real World white guys who are openly gay,
and this is the moment
they're going to get to see African American guy
that is openly gay, who loves being black.
Who is all about hip hop culture.
I mean, look at how baggy those clothes are.
I blame every hip hop artist in 2001 to 2007
for my clothes being that baggy. I'm mad at you.
Oh, the scene. I already know this scene.
This is the famous balcony scene.
This is Philly baby.
Those were my boys, and they were so oblivious.
This was all that happened in early 2000s.
People were not exposed to the LGBTQ community
as they needed to be.
Literally, these two white guys swore
because I had a fitted hat on
and my clothes were baggy that I was straight,
and a lot of people still think that.
Let me tell y'all something.
People who were part of the LGBTQ community look every way.
So stop judging based on clothes.
So have you been to gay clubs before
? Yeah.
Yeah.
All the time. Yeah.
You're not ... Are you homosexual?
Yeah. I'm gay.
I would never guess. I had no clue.
I would never have guessed.
That moment.
Oh my gosh, what I loved is back then memes weren't a thing,
but the way these two,
their mouth fell open that would have been a meme.
I already know it. That would have been a meme
because both their mouths just dropped,
and he said are you a homosexual?
Who says that? Are you a homosexual?
It's really funny though because I noticed
because as I'm talking about my sexuality with them
I got a little bit more hood.
All of a sudden I started saying ain't.
I'm like I don't normally say ain't, but in that moment
I was like well, you aint going to have a problem with me?
See, that's the toxic part of my masculinity
was coming out right there.
I got to assert myself to show you that
I'm more of a man, and I don't do that anymore.
If I tell you I'm gay, girl, and you don't like it move on.
This moment, seriously,
was probably a critical moment in my 20s.
I mean, obviously nowadays we see
so many young African Americans on Facebook
who are being harassed by the police for now reason.
They're losing their lives by the hands of police.
It's still a discussion that is still going on,
and in that moment the world got to see me
being harassed for now reason,
and the police surrounding me telling that I have a gun.
I was upset, but what made me more upset
was that these two white men who I consider my friends
kept telling me that I was overreacting.
Oh my gosh, that's so mean.
Any time somebody gets on my nerves
I say don't touch me, and I'm like move back.
These type of things, you don't understand,
they are now taking me ...
But just calm, breathe.
Yo. Just go get Landon. I'm done.
I don't want to talk about this right now.
Trust me. I don't want to talk about this.
Trust me. With all these cops in my face
I don't want to talk about this right now.
You're yelling. You're yelling.
I'm in a club chilling and dancing.
Somebody made a prank call ...
No. Go get Landon. We'll talk later.
Yes. This is the thing.
What I've learned about communication is that
when someone says to you that I'm not in a space
to clearly articulate what I'm feeling
it's not your job to continue to pressure them
because you want to have the conversation.
Find the moment for you both to talk,
for you to have a conversation where you both can speak
and hear each other and listen empathetically.
That's something I didn't know back then.
It was like you're going to talk when I want to talk,
and vice versa.
My roommates didn't know it either.
It's funny watching this through a different lens.
Seeing him chase after me showed that he cared about me more than
I thought he did in that moment because in my mind
I remember this scene as they stayed at the club,
and I was all by myself, and he was actually running behind me
so that he could learn,
but I was just so upset that there was nothing.
I should have been upset about that doo rag and not the club.
I still don't understand who let me go out in the club
with a white doo rag.
What was wrong with me? I know this is a serious moment,
but I really like that doo rag look like somebody's auntie's
stocking that they cut and a white doo rag
I never a look.
That was a real moment that was captured.
I think that was what so special about the Real World
is that you never got to see young people
experiencing what we all go through.
It's about seeing what happens when someone
who's African American feels triggered, attacked.
What happens when a female feels attacked?
I was proud of that moment
because I was not able to speak up for myself,
but I was able to lend a voice to so many people of color
who felt like their experiences were never validated,
never seen on TV,
and they were able to see themselves through me.
Part of scenes like that is part
is why I still have a career today,
and why people still support my career, either black or white.
I'm just thankful that that moment didn't escalate higher
because that could have turned out really ugly.
I'm thankful I now know better about how to communicate,
and I'm glad that I no longer own a white doo rag.
Trust and believe.
Hey friends. It's Karamo. Make sure if you want to watch
any of the new seasons of Real World
you go to the Facebook right now and tune in.