Jerrod Carmichael Admitted His Romantic Feelings For This Famous Rapper on TV, And It Did Not Go Well

We expected things to get awkward on Jerrod Carmichael’s new HBO series, but we were not ready for how much of his personal business the comedian put out there. In the premiere episode of “Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show,” the comedian wasted no time diving into his romantic life by detailing his extremely awkward experience with unrequited love.

Things got uncomfortable when Carmichael sent a text to his good friend, Tyler, the Creator, expressing his very non-platonic feelings. He revealed how “weird” the situation got during a stand-up set included in the episode.

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“I fell in love with my best friend. One out of 10, don’t recommend,” Carmichael said. “I knew I had to tell him. Things started getting kind of weird between us. I had these feelings…So I texted him. I remember saying, ‘I know you didn’t ask for this, but somewhere down the line I developed feelings for you and I don’t know what to do with that.’ Then I immediately turned my phone off and went into therapy.”

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“My therapist was thrilled. He was so excited! He was like, ‘Man, this shit never happens in real time,’” he continued.

Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show | Official Trailer | HBO

Tyler did eventually reply to his message, but the vague response actually made things worse.

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“He sent me a voice note. I was so nervous. It was like six seconds… He said, ‘Hahahaha, you stupid bitch.’ And I don’t really know what that means,” Carmichael said.

We all know Jerrod’s heartbreaking, anxiety inducing trip into unrequited love for a friend isn’t new or unique. Let’s be honest: Whether directly or indirectly, everyone has been in this sort of situation. However, most of us aren’t going to put this awkwardness on display for the whole world to judge. I’ll leave it up to viewers to decide if it makes for good or bad TV, but props to him for his courageous audacity in opening up about it. He and Tyler did address how this affected their friendship, noting that things had changed.

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“It’s because I told you I had feelings for you, and we didn’t talk about it, ever,” Carmichael said. “That was, like, weird. I don’t know if it was just too awkward to talk about or just too…I don’t know. I feel like you left me hanging out there a little bit.”

When the comedian called him out on saying he was a “stupid bitch,” the rapper responded “I did,” then went on to clarify that he “brushed it off…[as] a way to avoid change.”

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Even though Tyler still wasn’t sure how to process Carmichael’s feelings, he wasn’t happy about the mess that now existed in their relationship and how he missed their friendship.

“Are you wanting the same thing from me?” Tyler said. “When you told me that, I’m like, ‘Nah, I don’t know. Not like that. That’s like a brother. That man’s like family. Like true family. Like a true brother.’”

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Well, that’s one way to kick off a new series and get everyone talking about it. If Jerrod is willing to reveal this much of his personal life in the first episode, lord knows how crazy things will get as the series chronicles his relationship with his family.

“Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show” airs new episodes every Friday on HBO and is available to stream on Max.