Tan France Shuts Down Claim He “Campaigned” For Jeremiah Brent To Replace Bobby Berk On ‘Queer Eye’: “I Didn’t Put My Friend Up For The Job”

Tan France is clearing the air. Taking to Instagram on Friday, Queer Eye‘s resident fashion expert shot down the allegation made in a recent Rolling Stone report that he “campaigned” for Jeremiah Brent to replace the show’s longtime home design expert, Bobby Berk.

In the report, which arrived earlier this week, one source had described his alleged pursuit to have his friend and HGTV star take over Berk’s post as “mean-girl antics.”

Noting that he’s “heard what’s going on,” without naming names, France claimed that his “former colleague getting fired had nothing to do with [him] trying to get [his] friend hired.”

“Netflix and the production companies did a full-on casting,” he explained. “I didn’t put my friend up for the job. They ended up getting it because they were the best person for the job.”

He conceded, “Am I so happy that they have the job? Uh-huh, I really am. I think they’re gonna be incredible on the show. But I didn’t get them hired by getting rid of somebody else.”

France traced the speculation back to “a comment on a gossip blog that got reposted and reposted,” to the point that “it’s almost become gospel.”

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“So from the horse’s mouth, I’m telling you that’s not at all how it went down,” he added. “And that’s all I’ll say on the matter.”

In January, Berk shut down rumors that conflict between himself and France led to his exit from the show, noting that he “thought [they] were done”with the show and clarified that he“started planning other things” prior to Queer Eye‘s surprise renewal.

“Tan and I had a moment,” he told Vanity Fair. “There was a situation, and that’s between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show. It was something personal that had been brewing — and nothing romantic, just to clarify that.”

Queer Eye Seasons 1 through 8 are now streaming on Netflix.