With a Dolly Parton picture hanging behind him on the wall, “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness answered fan questions on Looped Live as part of ETSU’s Five Night Concert and Comedy Festival.
The event was the fourth of the series sponsored by Buctainment. The attendance was at a record high with 243 virtual participants, according to Carter Warden, the director of ETSU Student Activities And Organizations.
Viewers could interact with several other schools in the virtual viewing room, including University of New Haven, Drexel University and Central Michigan University.
“I was excited to realize there were more members and allies of the LGBT community on chat,” said ETSU student Amber Parks. ”I was even more excited to find common ground with them.”
As the event was moderated by Ayo Edebiri, a comedian known for her current role as Missy on “Big Mouth,” Van Ness answered questions ranging from filming “Queer Eye” in Japan, to filming a commercial with Simone Biles and wanting to style Oprah Winfrey. Early on, he answered an ETSU student’s question about coming out and the best way to do it, which resonated with many who watched. One of those included Natalie Smith, an assistant professor, who wanted to offer some words of comfort to students struggling with their sexuality.
“There are a lot of you and only a few of us, but we do generally want whatever is best for our students,” Smith said. “Whether that be through discovering your sexuality or finding whatever it is that that looks like for each student. While obviously the LGBTQ faculty have similar experiences, potentially, to students who are questioning or or exploring their own identity, there is also a whole lot of faculty out there who just want what is best for their students.”
Following the livestream, one ETSU student was randomly selected to virtually meet Van Ness. Nikolai Armstrong, a graduate assistant for ETSU Student Activities and Organizations, described the meet and greet as the highlight of his night. He was ninth in line to meet the star and even got an extended amount of time to talk to him about East Tennessee and other LGBTQ topics.
“Once you are next in line, it takes your camera and it says, ‘please wait you are next in line,'” said Armstrong. “And it is like okay and then it says, ‘Jonathan Van Ness is calling.’ I am like, ‘Oh my God’ and then I answered it, and you are allowed 60 seconds, but he had the ability to extend the time if he wanted to; we ended up talking for like two and a half minutes.”
The Five Night Concert and Comedy Festival will conclude Nov. 4 with SNL’s Chloe Fineman doing a comedy act. Students can register at loopedlive.com with their ETSU email to reserve a viewing spot.
