Karan Brar and Josie Totah. Photo:
Steven Ferdman/Getty; josietotah/TikTok; Monica Schipper/Getty
No, former Jessie costars Josie Totah and Karan Brar are not, in fact, dating.
Totah, 23, who came out as trans in 2018, and Brar, 25, starred in the hit Disney Channel series led by Debby Ryan from 2011 to 2015, and now, they’re making headlines after posting a PDA-filled video on TikTok. In the video, Brar came up behind Totah and wrapped his arms around her waist before she went in for a kiss.
After the video went viral online, Totah posted a follow-up video on TikTok, laughing as she said over and over, “It was a joke.”
(L-R) Karan Brar and Josie Totah are pictured in a still from TikTok. josietotah/TikTok
“We are two platonic best friends who danced a little too close to the sun,” Totah wrote in the caption of the second video, clearing up her and Brar’s relationship status.
Brar also weighed in, writing in a post on his Instagram Stories, “It was a joke 😭 ” as he said the friends “didn’t mean to gaslight” the internet.
Fans in the comments couldn’t quite decide what to think, though, as one wrote, “That did not look like a joke,” and another replied, “Well you can’t be joking like that cause now I’m disappointed.”
Totah joined Jessie in 2013 as Stuart Wooten, who had a crush on Skai Jackson’s character, Zuri.
Brar played Ravi, one of Zuri’s three siblings, who were taken care of by babysitter Jessie (Debby Ryan). Peyton List and Cameron Boyce played the other two Ross siblings.
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Karan Brar on Jessie. Eric McCandless/Disney Channel/Getty
In 2018, Totah came out as a transgender woman in a personal essay for Time. She was 17 at the time.
The actress reflected on how people often assumed she was gay during her childhood because she wasn’t yet ready to tell the truth publicly about her identity.
Josie Totah is pictured on Jessie. Tony Rivetti/DISNEY CHANNEL/Getty
“I was afraid I wouldn’t be accepted, that I would be embarrassed, that the fans who knew me from the time when I acted in a Disney show would be confused,” Totah wrote. “But I realized over the past few years that hiding my true self is not healthy. I know now, more than ever, that I’m finally ready to take this step toward becoming myself. I’m ready to be free.”
“My pronouns are she, her and hers. I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female. And my name is Josie Totah,” she added.
Jessie can be streamed in full on Disney+.
