ADULTS FINISH THE JOB
This may be an unpopular opinion, but professionalism doesn’t disappear just because someone is having a difficult time. Whatever Karamo is going through personally, the decision to skip promotional interviews, unfollow castmates, and effectively derail a press cycle was the wrong move — not just for him, but for everyone else involved in the show.
Promotional work isn’t optional fluff. It’s part of the job. When you sign onto a series, especially one with a large ensemble cast, you’re not just committing to filming — you’re committing to the rollout. Interviews, junkets, appearances, social media alignment: that’s the unglamorous but essential final stretch of work that ensures the project actually lands with an audience. In this case, it amounted to one more day. One.
By opting out publicly, Karamo shifted the spotlight away from the show and onto himself. Now the story isn’t about the season, the themes, or the collective work of the cast — it’s about his feelings, his boundaries, his Instagram follows. Whether that was intentional or not is almost irrelevant. The outcome is clear: personal drama eclipsed professional promotion.
And that’s the real issue. This wasn’t a quiet step back. This was a loud one. Unfollowing castmates mid-rollout isn’t self-care — it’s a signal. It invites speculation, fuels headlines, and guarantees that journalists and fans start asking questions that have nothing to do with the work. If the goal was privacy or peace, this approach achieved the opposite.
There’s an important distinction that often gets blurred in public conversations about mental health and boundaries. Taking care of yourself is necessary. Burning bridges in real time is not. Adults are capable of holding both truths at once: I’m struggling and I still have responsibilities. One does not automatically cancel out the other.
It’s also worth noting that this wasn’t a solo project. There are castmates who did show up, who answered the same questions, who smiled through the same press obligations, who carried the weight of representing the show while knowing the narrative had shifted. That’s not fair. When you’re part of a team, your actions don’t exist in isolation.
At a certain point in adulthood — especially at a high level of visibility — professionalism becomes less about feelings and more about follow-through. You finish the job, then you go deal with your personal life offline. You don’t weaponize the rollout as a stage for unresolved conflict.
Missing Karamo
There’s a growing cultural habit of framing any expectation of professionalism as cruelty. It isn’t. It’s simply reality. Showing up for one last obligation doesn’t negate someone’s pain. It demonstrates respect — for colleagues, for contracts, and for the audience.
And yes, optics matter. Right now, the optics suggest someone who wanted the focus redirected. Consciously or unconsciously, this move guaranteed that the conversation would be about Karamo instead of the show. If the aim was to reclaim control, it worked — but at the cost of collective goodwill.
Being an adult doesn’t mean suppressing your emotions. It means managing them responsibly. Finish the work. Log off. Then take the space you need — privately, without dragging everyone else into it.
That’s not being harsh. That’s being grown.
Rob’s latest exclusives and insider reporting can be found at robshuter.substack.com
His forthcoming novel, It Started With A Whisper, is now available for pre-order