Appearing on television can leave people subject to cruel comments from trolls online – but few have had more unfair comments than “Big” Ed Brown of 90 Day Fiancé fame. While Ed’s behavior on the series has long made him a divisive figure, the reality star has been subject to many body-shaming comments about his appearance, which is caused by a disability known as Klippel-Feil syndrome.
What is Klippel-Feil syndrome?
HealthLine describes Klippel-Feil syndrome as “a rare disorder that impacts your spinal bone growth”, categorizing the condition as being present when two or more spinal bones in the neck are fused together.
K-FS is a congenital condition, meaning it is present at birth and there is no outright cure. The health publication cites genetic mutations as the main cause of the condition, citing it as occurring in approximately 1 in every 40,000 births. Although it is a genetic condition, HealthLine emphasizes that it is not something that typically reappears frequently in familial lines.
The Cleveland Clinic categorizes the condition’s physical characteristics as mainly a “short neck, limited neck mobility, and low back-of-head hairline”. The clinic also cites common health complications of the condition, including headaches, increased chances of hearing loss, muscle and nerve pain, scoliosis, limited spine motion, and kidney disease. Restricted height – noted in Ed’s 4-foot, 11-inch frame – is common, but not universal. For example, Justyn Ross, a Kansas City Chiefs Wide Receiver who has the condition, is 6-foot, 4-inches tall.
As stated, there is no outright cure for Klippel-Feil syndrome, but the condition can be managed with the use of medical tools, such as cervical collars or braces. In more extreme cases, corrective surgery can be used to intervene when it comes to bone, muscular, or other organ abnormalities.
KF-S is typically diagnosed through ultrasound scans of a fetus before birth or in early infancy, but Ed has stated that he was not diagnosed with the condition until he was a teenager. This was due to the rarity of the condition, as well as the limited medical tools or research available when Ed was younger.
Big Ed opens up about his struggle with the condition
During his time on 90 Day Fiancé, Ed has been open about having Klippel-Feil Syndrome. The condition’s effect on his relationships has been an especially prominent point of discussion in his storyline.
When we first met Ed on 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days, Ed lied about his height to his then-girlfriend from the Philippines, Rosemarie Vega, claiming to be 5-feet, 2-inches, rather than his actual height of 4-feet, 11 inches. However, when the couple finally met in person for the first time, the height difference between Ed and Rose (who is actually 5’2) was obvious and was a red flag for the Filipina, who began to notice a pattern of lies by Ed from then on.
During the reunion episode for Before The 90 Days season four, Ed explained that the social media comments from viewers, who dubbed him “No-Neck Ed” were no longer hurtful to him. “I’ve overcome that – and it sounds corny – by trying to love myself, and trying to be funny” Ed explained via Zoom call.
“Since I was a young child, young adults and kids especially, they would always stare at me,” Ed told People in 2024. “They would call me ‘neckless’ and ‘no neck’ and ‘no neck Ed’ and everything under the sun, and it was very hurtful,” he said.
However, the comments from people don’t have the same effect on the reality star today, according to Brown.
“I’ll always tell them, ‘I never allowed my condition to define who I was,’ ” he said. “You have to love who you are and you have to be able to laugh at yourself.”
However, insecurities over his condition and the bullying that followed do occasionally creep in, as shown in Happily Ever After?, when a photography date in which Ed photographed then-girlfriend Liz Woods’ friend ended in an explosive argument.
After finding his approach to photography teaching patronizing, Liz said one of the photos taken of the model looked like she had “no neck” which caused Ed to become upset. When they addressed the fight later, Ed said that being teased about his neck made him take the jab personally.
When Ed and Liz did past-life regression (PLR) couples’ therapy on 90 Day: The Last Resort. Ed visualized his past life under hypnosis as that of a leprechaun, who was abused by his peers and displayed in a freak show for audiences to laugh at. Ed left the therapy session with greater acceptance of his height and an acceptance that he was meant to be small in stature in every timeline, according to the star.