Jonathan Van Ness joins Conchita Wurst on our list of famous bearded ladies with HIV. Van Ness admitted in September of 2019 that he had been diagnosed with HIV in 2012. According to Van Ness he was working as a barber at a hair salon when he fainted while giving someone a hair cut. Then he went to Planned Parenthood to seek treatment for flu like symptoms and tested positive for HIV. He blames drug abuse for his high risk behaviors that led to his HIV infection. He says that he started blowing his allowance on cocaine during high school and started smoking meth during his 20s. Such drug abuse stories are are common tales told by gay men with HIV, but it may or may not have led to Van Ness' infection specifically. He has also admitted to meeting anonymous older men for sex online starting with AOL chats in the 1990s and continuing that behavior on Grindr in recent years.
Despite his high risk behavior and repeated failed stints in rehab we are not aware of any instance where he ever knowingly failed to tell a sexual partner about his condition. We just hope that if he does start tweaking again that his self control is better than it was when he gained 70 pounds in just 3 months using food to cope with the loss of a loved one. You can never be too careful with people that impulsive.
Jonathan Van Ness is best known for his work on the Netflix series Queer Eye and his online series Gay of Thrones. Queer Eye is the latest version of the Bravo reality series originally called "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" in which a team of gay men would give a straight guy a makeover complete with a new hair style and clothing. Gay of Thrones was a Funny or Die series in which Van Ness would analyze recent Game of Thrones episodes.
In 2019 he released a tell all book called "Over the Top" about his life story. The book focuses on his experience growing up gay in the 90s as well as his rise to fame and his HIV diagnosis.