Tyra Banks: The MOST EVIL Reality Star… – Ty

 

There was once a little girl with a dream. Oh my god, I think we built a monster. >> I knew I went too far. There was once an awkward, insecure, and unsure girl with a dream. I feel like I’m going for you, people. And now, I’m sharing that dream with you. I mean, I’m really involved. Yeah. Welcome to the future of beauty.

>> These ideas just keep coming in my head. It’s just like, “Bam, wake me up.” >> Now it’s time. On February 16th, 2026, the world revisited the controversial show America’s Next Top Model. All in the documentary Reality Check. America’s Next Top Model was known for moments that aged horribly, like its race-switching challenge where aspiring models were told to switch races.

They are literally putting blackface on her. Or the moment when Tyra Banks berated a contestant. I was rooting for you. WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU. HOW DARE YOU? IN the documentary Reality Check, both models involved in the show and those involved in production sat down for interviews and gave their take on what went on behind the scenes.

What is happening right now? It was definitely the most difficult moment on set. >> Tyra Banks, who took a step back from her successful hot ice cream business, Bam, wake me up. And then this one, this one came to me, hot ice cream. sat down to talk about America’s Next Top Model from her perspective.

I haven’t really said much, but now it’s time. The early 2000s was defined by, well, many things. Iconic pop stars, paparazzi, low-rise skinny jeans, and the rise of reality television. If you wanted to be on top, you had to be the most outrageous, drama-filled, eye-catching. I mean, really has anything changed? I made a pee-pee.

I made a pee-pee. Ho, but I’mma make it fashion. Ho, make it fashion. OH MY GOD. ACTING. SOMEONE WHO QUICKLY REALIZED ALL OF this was supermodel turned TV personality Tyra Banks. I must once have been a awkward, insecure, and unsure girl with a dream. Who co-created the show America’s Next Top Model, a show designed to challenge the norms of the modeling industry, but quickly turned into a horror show in which young contestants were forced to live out their worst nightmares, both literally and figuratively. This is like

a crash course in rejection, a crash course in being broken down. >> Do you know what acting a fool means? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT ACTING A DAMN FOOL MEANS? And now, more than 20 years after the show’s initial inception, a three-part docuseries called Reality Check released to highlight the models’ stories and what went on behind the scenes.

And maybe give those in charge an opportunity to own up to their mistakes or to shift the blame. >> to be on top, and you have to walk like Tyra, you have to talk like Tyra, you have to be like Tyra. You literally have to be me. But Reality Check is just the beginning of the models or former reality TV contestants speaking out.

A lot of people might have assumed that we were paid to be on that show. We were not paid to be on the show. >> We worked 12, 16-hour days, and even when we were sleeping, there were cameras on us. And we were given $37 a day at two to buy our food. Speaking on the much deeper problem with reality TV and the exploitation happening in show business, as more and more stories come out, it begs the question, is America’s Next Top Model the most exploitative reality show to have ever existed? Is Tyra Banks the most evil reality star?

Modeling, television, Harvard Business School, you’re an author. What do you call yourself these days? I don’t know. I like to call myself the the chairwoman and CEO of my company, businesswoman and producer. The networks were thinking, “Who would want to watch a bunch of dull, unsympathetic airheads walk around all day?” And at one point, they were getting pushed back for casting too many women of color.

Tyra Banks has been a problematic figure for most of her television career. And it’s not working. She started the iconic show America’s Next Top Model and later on her own talk show. You need to tell me that hitting them with gongs on the runway, pulling their teeth out, and changing their ethnicities for a photo shoot was part of building the perfect model? They forgot the danger of that.

I don’t think they did. I think they wanted a moment for their episode. Danni, the model who was forced to close her gap. >> Well, I guess she just left a gap wide open for another girl of aging. >> I agree. >> You have this intensity to prove your sort of African-ness. In fact, looking too masculine, getting told that their teeth were too messed up to be marketable in the industry.

Hi friends and internet acquaintances. Welcome or welcome back to another deep dive on internet lives and controversial media figures. If you like that sort of content, don’t forget to subscribe. And if you like this video, don’t forget to give it a like. And leave a comment on what sort of topics you’d like me to cover next.

And before we get into the video, let’s talk about this video’s sponsor, Nourish. My health fluctuates a lot with my mental health. I’m not the best at planning my meals if I’m stressed or I have a lot going on. I have to track my intake or else I’m not getting nearly enough nutrients. And I know there’s some who have the complete opposite problem, and I don’t think either personal problem should be shamed.

We’re all human trying to tackle so many problems in our daily lives. So, it’s just natural to struggle when it comes to nutrition. Most of these things aren’t taught to us. This is why in today’s video I’m partnering with Nourish. I would describe the Nourish app as an app that helps you connect with a registered dietitian in the most convenient and accessible way.

And expands that accessibility by giving you and your dietitian all the tools you need to connect. Nourish dietitians help you learn sustainable lifelong skills like how to grocery shop, meal prep, and find the best foods for your lifestyle. Because they’re dietitians, which are protected credential titles, they can also request your lab and blood work and walk you through the results.

You’re working alongside a professional who is trained to help you in your health and nutrition. I really like how the app had a ton of different scheduling options when it comes to one-on-one meetings with a dietitian, and has options for connecting through insurance or self-pay, making it even more accessible.

Nourish has the Nourish guarantee. Your appointment will never cost more than the initial estimate for your appointment, and 94% of patients pay $0 out of pocket. app connected me with dietitian Kristen. We met and spoke about my nutrition and lifestyle. There were a ton of different options for meeting dates and appointments, so I could find the one that fits into my day.

The biggest takeaways from the meeting was talking about the importance of bone health, how important it is to be tracking my nutrition and food intake along with some weight training to ensure I’m maintaining a healthy weight and preventing long-term problems like osteoporosis, which runs in my family unfortunately.

I love Nourish because health and nutrition is not a one-size-fits-all solution. My favorite part, as someone who loves resources, is that after the call, the dietitian sent over a ton of resources my way. So, connect with a dietitian through the Nourish app. Use my link, use nourish.com/cruelworldhappymind, and book your first appointment seamlessly in under 5 minutes.

And thank you so much to Nourish for sponsoring this video. Who is truly behind America’s Next Top Model’s controversies and the exploitation that the models underwent? Many people have looked to Tyra Banks, not only because she was the face behind America’s Next Top Model, or rather in front of America’s Next Top Model, but she was the co-creator, the executive producer.

If there is any one person you can point to and blame, it would be Tyra Banks. Beyond that, Tyra has done quite a few controversial things, which I’ve covered before on this channel, if you’ve been here for some time, and we’re definitely revisiting in today’s video, because all of it shows quite a pattern when it comes to show business and exploitation.

And that is, what do people do to try to stay on top? Who do they punch down on, sabotage, and exploit along the way to try and make it to the top? Before Tyra became known for all of her controversies on America’s Next Top Model, she was seen as a pioneering supermodel who broke barriers by becoming the first black woman to grace the cover of GQ magazine and Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Now, meet Tyra Banks, one of the brashest bombshells around. I mean, you know I love modeling, I love it to death. It is with this attitude that Tyra leapt to the top of designers’ wish list even on her first season out. >> When I step out into the runway as a parent in Milan and all these people around there, I’m just like, “Look at me.

I’m going to show you this dress. I am fine. I look good. I’m going to show it to you.” She then made her transition to the TV screen. But with all of Tyra’s time on TV documented, now looking back, she’s been painted with either a controversial lens or a comedic lens with some people memeing her and dubbing her as the Michael Scott of REALITY TELEVISION.

YOUR WILDEST DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE! AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL WAS ONCE FAIRLY well regarded as a reality show. Or I wouldn’t necessarily say well regarded, but it was deemed a fun and casual viewing experience. Somewhat harmless to put on in the background. >> Top Model is a show about supermodels and what it takes to be a supermodel.

This is my first executive producership. >> But it was the early 2000s when most people were viewing the show. Unhinged reality shows were common and concepts like accountability, mental health, and the Me Too movement weren’t commonplace or even conceptualized yet. On top of that, many people who went on to rewatch the show were literal children when they first watched America’s Next Top Model and lacked fully functioning brains.

I wonder what that did to our young and developing brains. Then during the pandemic, when many people had a lot of downtime, they started to rewatch the show. And YouTubers who were just starting their YouTube channel and YouTube careers were filming in a blue kitchen and talking about it. This led to many people discovering scenes from America’s Next Top Model that were incredibly controversial when reassessed.

Around 2021, people started realizing how controversial a lot of this content was. Tyra Banks made a post onto Twitter addressing some of those controversial moments, where she said, “Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some of the past America’s Next Top Model moments, and I agree with you. Looking back, those were some really off choices.

” Saying those were some off choices is one way to put it. As the more people looked into the show, the more they uncovered. >> These girls don’t get residuals. I mean, Tyra says, “Go back to your life.” With no money? Well, I collect millions off of their faces. Last year, a podcast was released titled Curse of America’s Next Top Model, which exposed some of the most horrible aspects of the show.

And then this year, the three-part Netflix series Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model was released. In the trailer for Reality Check, Tyra claims that she knew she went too far, but they continued to push it because that’s what the people wanted to see. It was really getting intense. But you guys >> were demanding it. Blaming the individual viewers for the ways in which the contestants were exploited.

But in a way, isn’t that how exploitation works? Continuing to put the contestants in danger for the sake of what the viewers wanted to see. You can see how this kind of blends with modern social media, how people put themselves in danger or exploit others or do outrageous, obnoxious, downright harmful things, and likely explain it away by saying that’s what the viewers want to see.

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is directed by Moira Luzy and Daniel Savant. Tyra Banks agreed to participate in the documentary without editorial control, which means that for the first time she’s participating in something being shown on television without controlling the narrative. In my opinion, this three-part docu-series is the final nail in the coffin when it comes to America’s Next Top Model and its legacy, while also giving the contestants their voice back without the narrative or the control being taken

over by the ones who always had predominant control on America’s Next Top Model, the people who made heroes and villains out of just everyday young people who had a dream and then tossed them aside when they no longer served them. There were cruel aspects of America’s Next Top Model, said Danielle Lindemann, the author of True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us.

But for better or worse, it’s part of the cultural zeitgeist. When America’s Next Top Model was first released, it was seen as a progressive show initially. The leading cast for the show was a black woman, Tyra Banks, and two gay men, runway coach turned judge Miss J. Alexander and creative director Jay Manuel.

This was over a decade before same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States. All of the contestants were predominantly women, highlighting a lot of women’s issues. And the show was marketed as something intended to break down barriers in a restrictive industry. But over time, it became clear that was not what the show was about.

And in actuality, it was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And because I’m going to be a supermodel, I’m going to be guiding that career. They are literally putting black paint on her. I haven’t really said much. But now it’s time. America’s Next Top Model ended up perpetuating the very prejudices it claimed it was setting out to challenge.

>> America’s Next Top Model documentary is telling a deeply American story about accountability and being destroyed by the thing that you wanted to destroy in the end. >> Ultimately, she claimed she wanted to break down the stereotypes of the modeling industry, but the reality show itself destroyed her and so many others along the way.

>> I don’t often talk about this in my content just because it feels a little bit strange to talk about myself personally, but when I was 15 years old, I joined the modeling agency Wilhelmina in Los Angeles. But just to briefly talk about some things that were casual, everyday things that were told to me in passing in the modeling industry.

Not even the most traumatic things that happened to me. Was, for example, one of my agents telling me, “You’ll never be able to make it in the modeling industry if you’re not comfortable taking your top off.” This was maybe a few weeks after I turned 18. There was a photographer who was using me for a very long time when I was underage, and I finally worked up the courage to tell my modeling agency and my agents that this person was making me uncomfortable.

They went right to this photographer and told them, and then continued to book me with them. Either monthly or bi-monthly, I would go in for measurements and Polaroid updates. It felt like this shaming ritual so they could tell me what parts of my body were bad or wrong. It’s kind of healing to see a lot of these things being talked about.

Because of that, I really praise all of the women who’ve come forward to talk about their experience because it is scary and the backlash for speaking is very real. The industry itself is incredibly toxic and exploitative and abusive, and unless people speak and come together, there will never be real change.

Anyways, that’s enough talking about myself. It already feels like too much talking about myself. So, moving on. When I covered Tyra in my past videos, there was a few things that always shocked me, and I think it’s relevant to the discussion of America’s Next Top Model because Tyra in general is, well, a certified girl boss.

What do you call yourself these days? Um what do I call myself? I don’t know. I like to call myself the the chairwoman and CEO of my company. Okay, sorry. Tyra is a master of the brand. She started multiple businesses. Some very successful, some not successful, and some, in my opinion, total scams. All focused on all things Tyra.

This is related to the America’s Next Top Model discussion because while Tyra may say she started America’s Next Top Model to transform the modeling industry. Most of the things Tyra has ever started have been centered around Tyra and her own self-image, which you can clearly see in all of the America’s Next Top Model intros, the smizes she does.

Smize. That’s a verb, meaning smiling with your eyes. Okay, and now I’m I’m not smiling with my eyes right now. I’m just going And now I’m about to smile with my eyes. America’s Next Top Model was another branding endeavor for Tyra, a way to become successful at all costs and to further her brand and image. Something Tyra did successfully, but hurt a lot of people in the process of doing so.

But here are some other bizarre business endeavors Tyra did as well, so you can really see the business brand spirit that Tyra has that went into the making of America’s Next Top Model. The Tyra Banks Show is a tabloid-style talk show hosted by Tyra Banks, which aired from 2005 to 2010. The Tyra Banks Show became most known for its weird bits, like the now-infamous bit where Tyra Banks pretends to have rabies.

I want to apologize to everybody. I’m not 100% today. The freaking dog bit me. Yeah, and the doctors are like, “Well, did the dog look diff you know, like crazy or anything?” And I’m like, “Well, I love how confused immediately the audience is. Foamy salivating or was it And I’m like, “Well, it was kind of foamy.

” And then they tested me, and the dog has rabies. So I’m feeling a little weird. I’m okay. Is rabies something to joke about? Reminds you of that episode in The Office where Meredith gets rabies. Michael Scott decides to do the rabies awareness fun run. So, even Michael Scott takes rabies more seriously than Tyra Banks. barking and pretending to bite guests after she told them that she has rabies.

That’s the way TO ENTERTAIN. WE’RE BREAKING YOU TODAY. START THE SHOW. TYRA BANKS! THESE WERE THE TALK SHOWS OF THE EARLY 2000S. Tyra Banks would also invite models onto the show to promote the upcoming episodes or seasons of America’s Next Top Model. We want to take a look at some of the stuff that made cycle six sizzle. Check it out.

The competition was truly daunting for cycle six of America’s Next Top Model. And would also bring on minors who it seems either Tyra or production believed had odd or interesting lives that Tyra could make into a bit for the episode. >> I was on the Tyra Banks Show when I was 13 years old. >> 13 years old and on the Tyra Banks Show? >> We get to the studio, they throw us in hair and makeup, and that’s when stuff starts going downhill.

I see a PA holding a folder, and on the folder it says the episode title. About 20 seconds before I’m about to go on stage, I read it, and it says, “How the internet ruined my life.” And what are we doing here? I don’t understand. The internet has not ruined my life. It brought me to meet Tyra. The internet’s great for me.

I go on the stage, it’s just me by myself. >> Yeah, this is so exploitative. This is the worst version of talk shows and ambush interviews. They start asking me questions, and I feel in my soul that I’m doing a good job. I feel like I’m doing good. When it was over, she comes down and she told me, “You did a really great job.” And then she walked off.

And that was it. Fast forward to the episode airing, and I see again the title how they ruined my life, and I’m like, “This is I’m embarrassed. I’m really embarrassed. I don’t want people to know about this.” Not only that, but one of my answers that I had practiced like a lot was in response to, “Do you consider yourself a celebrity?” They just changed my answer.

I had like a very like long explanation of why I don’t, and they changed it to yes. So, if you watch the episode, they do a wide shot, and then you hear me say yes, but it almost sounds robotic. That was a bit of a letdown, and that was my first experience of like meeting your heroes. In a 2008 episode of The Tyra Banks Show, Tyra asked Twilight star Robert Pattinson to bite her.

I don’t like biting right now. I want you to bite me, Robert. Where? On my neck. ALL RIGHT. OH MY GOD, I GOT A HICKEY FROM ROBERT. THAT WAS NO JOKE. THAT FELT GOOD, TOO. ONE OF YOU GUYS is a fan of my Tyra show. I am, yeah. I was wondering if he said it or What’s your favorite episode? Test, test, test, test. Go, go, go. What? Oh, that felt so awkward.

I felt so awkward. Also putting Robert on the spot in an uncomfortable situation, having him bite her, where everything is live, they’re being filmed. He might not have wanted to do that, but felt pressured into doing so. Also important to note, Taylor Lautner was only 16 at the time and sitting next to Robert witnessing all of this.

Yet, the Tyra Banks show went on to win awards like the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show in 2008 and the same award again in 2009, beating out Dr. Phil and The Doctors. It was also nominated for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Talk Show episode for the episode “Hell to Pay Gay Teen Exorcism” in 2010. How did Tyra create such a well a talk show? It may be due to her business acumen as Tyra studied and graduated from Harvard Business School, right? Much of the way Tyra talked about attending Harvard Business School >> What is it like being Tyra Banks at

Harvard Business School? In order to take my business to the next level, I needed to have not just my gut and my instinct, which is what got me and my company to this place, but I needed to have the education and the tools to get there. >> would make one think she, I don’t know, actually went to Harvard Business School, but instead Tyra just attended a Harvard 9-week certification program.

>> What is it like for you at Harvard Business School? Are you one of the one of the students? >> My classmates are like, “What the heck? You look just like her.” And I’m like, “Yeah, I I know. I kind of know her well.” But, you know, second term, I’m just me. In 2012, Tyra tweeted that she graduated from Harvard Business School saying, “On stage at my Harvard Business School graduation.

Little blurry, but such an exciting moment for me and wanted to share with you.” That would lead people to believe that she graduated from Harvard Business School, not a certification program. Details unclear, but instead the Harvard Crimson themselves reported that Banks received a certificate from Harvard’s owner president management program, a 9-week program featuring an application which asks prospective participants for their annual compensations but does not inquire about GPAs or test scores.

But Tyra has used this graduated from Harvard in so much of her businesses content and branding. “It hit me after graduating from Harvard.” Tyra Banks explained in the opening sequence of America’s Next Top Model 19 cycle. “We just have to do a college cycle.” And she had a college themed America’s Next Top Model season.

>> Friday, August 24th, Top Model is back with a special college edition. America’s Next Top Model College Edition. >> Tyra Banks recalled in a 2016 interview what it was like to be at Harvard for the first time. Asked to name her most difficult Harvard Business School class, she noted it was finance.

“For the first 30 minutes of the class, I’m raising my hand. I’m all into it cuz it’s kind of like theory and just like the social part of the class.” She told VH1. “The last hour, it’s all like Einstein and algebraic equations and craziness and I’m just like, what the heck is going on? Please don’t call on me because it won’t be pretty.

” >> I take accounting and finance at Harvard. Finance is a little difficult. It’s not my strong suit. And for accounting, I actually tutor at Columbia before I go to Harvard just so that I’m a little bit better prepared. >> While many people claim this is an example of Tyra straight-up lying, I mean, this could also be another example of Tyra’s master branding.

She is branding herself as a Harvard Business School graduate. Who cares about the technicals? If people believe it and she repeats it enough, then it must be true, especially if she can use it to further profit. >> Tyra also used her business graduate skills to kickstart a multi-level marketing company called Tyra Beauty.

There was once a little girl with a dream. And now I’m sharing that dream with you. Welcome to the future of beauty. Tyra Beauty. Which I did an entire video on way back when in my blue kitchen days. Multi-level marketing companies, if you’re not familiar with the term, are basically legal pyramid schemes.

And they’ve been known to be or have been claimed to be predatory, scammy, with many statistics coming out that those who get involved don’t make money. In order to make any money, you have to be at the very top of the pyramid and reliant on constantly recruiting people underneath you. And those at the bottom make no money whatsoever, but have been roped in on the dream that maybe they could make money, become the next millionaire, but it’s likely not going to happen.

These are called MLM distributors. Tyra called her distributors beautitainers. Just a few days ago I launched Tyra Beauty and it’s not just a cosmetics line, it is a cosmetics experience. Do you have a passion for beauty? Do you have the time to dedicate to your dreams to make this happen? Do you have the force behind you to get started quickly? Then I want you to apply to be a beautitainer at tyra.com.

>> Ads to become a beautitainer would say things like, “Ready for an opportunity that combines beauty and business?” Where you set the hours, on your own terms. You can decide where you work, work from home. We decide how much money you make, which is zero dollars. Join our crew of bonafide entrepreneurs.

We call them beauty tainers, independent sales reps who make money through sharing the Tyra Beauty movement. Glides on your skin like butter. Sculpts in an instant. Light in an instant. Tyra using her former America’s Next Top Model contestants to advertise her MLM company, who she exploited from the show to rope people into join her MLM company to be exploited by an MLM company feels particularly sinister to me.

I’m so goofy. I’m so quirky. I’m definitely not taking advantage of people. I’m just an innocent, silly, goofy, quirky person. >> Tyra claimed she started the company after going to Harvard Business School. Let that sink in. Tyra told aspiring beauty tainers that she started a multi-level marketing company after going to Harvard Business School.

AKA Tyra went to a 9-week certification program and decided it would be a good idea to start scheme, in my opinion. And then claimed to everyone that she went to Harvard Business School and that’s why this legal pyramid scheme is so legit and you should join it. >> The first step, find good lighting. Step two is staring into that lens.

Third step is where the intensity of the smiles comes in. I need you to think of something that you desire, something that makes you very excited. And then squint your eyes and pour your soul in your eyes into that lens and then you snap that camera. There you go. But Tyra claimed to beauty tainers that she wanted to educate herself as much as she could to help her beauty tainers rack up what she called bank signs.

Buckle up because I have Tyra Beauty tea. Pull up a chair and your beverage of choice. Yes, I was a beauty tainer with Tyra Beauty in 2015. Tyra was mostly just a name. She was barely present, a figurehead collecting checks while we were building her empire. Congratulations, you figured out what an MLM is.

If I never heard the word smize again, it’ll be too soon. That word was in every document, every email, and every training. So stupid. Leaving Tyra Beauty was a battle. No clear way to exit articulated anywhere. My upline gave me an email to customer service. They never answered. Multiple attempts, complete silence. So, I filed a Better Business Bureau complaint.

Suddenly, I get a call. They processed my exit, but then argued with me about contacting the BBB. We don’t appreciate the tactic. Oh, I’m sorry. Did my consumer protection complaint hurt your feelings? Maybe answer your emails. Check the Better Business Bureau. Tyra Beauty is still there. Timeline totally tracks.

After Tyra dropped her Beautytainers, someone wrote on her Instagram, “Really disappointed you fired us Beautytainers. You used the women who loved you the most to launch and spread it to shit on all of us. I wish for a world that valued their resources and each other’s well-being. Dang, this post is getting deep.

Where society is set up for everyone to achieve good health and basic human needs.” I think this person realized that MLMs are at the epicenter of what’s wrong with the world and capitalism. Eventually, Tyra left behind the MLM business and went into writing fantasy, a natural transition. Tyra wrote or co-wrote a book called Modelland, a 2011 young adult fantasy novel co-written with Michael Sollors.

>> Yeah, but then I did write a book, too. The book is about an awkward girl named Tookie De La Creme, who is chosen to attend a magical modeling school called Modelland. She and three girls have to face challenges to become Intoxibellas, and the book is widely hated. >> Modelland is quite possibly the most insane book I’ve ever read.

It is at times completely unhinged, while at the same time manages to maintain some degree of cohesive narrative. Kind of an odd accomplishment, frankly, but I was entertained. There’s some wacky characters with very quirky stories of how they lose their eye, period sinking, superpowers that have to do with beauty standards, and characters whose biggest struggle in life is that they’re so hot that no one takes them seriously.

It’s rough out there, I know. A monster who’s defeated by the power of dance. And so, I would say that one thing that’s absolutely certain is that even though it says this book is co-written by Tyra, undoubtedly Tyra wrote a lot of this book. Here’s a Reddit post on the book Modelland. This Reddit post will probably have some spoilers.

Okay, my friend bought this for me as a joke, because we obviously love the show, and I’m genuinely fascinated with Tyra. As a book, there are many issues. It’s incredibly long, 565 pages, and every page has new bits of world building, a new acronym, a new magical room, a new character. I promise well, they do not all add up or come back.

There’s a lot of food fetish stuff, including making out while your mouth is full of whipped cream. And Tyra Banks started an ice cream company. A hallway of mean models called the Caddywalk, where the mean models were turned into literal cats. The acknowledgements were also insane. She thanks the Pacific Ocean and the resorts she stayed at while writing the book.

Relatable. Oh, no. She mentions a town in Morocco where she read the book to children who didn’t speak English. She wanted to see if it was interesting to non-English speakers. Icon, it is not a good book, but it has lots of fun ideas and is never boring. ModelLand is also an attraction that was started by Tyra Banks, but combing through the archives, there’s not a ton of information about this attraction, which Tyra once said would be the next Disneyland.

But it never seemed to materialize into anything big. ModelLand has the glamour of America’s Next Top Model, the whimsy of Willy Wonka, and the magic of Disneyland. >> Yes. So, what does that mean? ModelLand is a show where you are the star, where you come and you can live your ultimate photo fantasy.

We’re not talking about just selfie clicks. No, I’m talking about giving you the lighting that I have given my America’s Next Top Model girls. >> ModelLand seemed to mainly be like a place to take nice photos, which to be as fair as possible, there are a lot of art installations like that nowadays. At least nearby where I live.

They’re not quite amusement parks, they’re not quite museums. Instead, they’re art installation attractions that you can go to to take nice Instagrammable social media photos for a price, of course. So, maybe in some ways Tyra Banks was kind of ahead of her time with the ModelLand attraction.

Wow, the chandelier has like cameras all through it. I love that. Start off the experience in the gift shop. They didn’t really allow much time to take your own pictures or stuff like that. A little bit of time per each room. We just learned how to smile on these little video stations. Very limited time to take pictures, but we did sneak in a few other hotel person right here.

Took some more selfies and they turned out pretty cute. But pretty much more selfie tips. But the prices for Modelland were insane, verifiable insane in my opinion. Vogue wrote an article that tickets for Modelland went from $59 for a general access ticket all the way up to 1,495 for the ultimate VIP package.

All of these business endeavors brings me to Tyra’s involvement in America’s Next Top Model and its many controversies. As you can see from these incidents, Tyra creates businesses centered on herself furthering her own ambitions. So, when America’s Next Top Model was branded as a way to better the fashion industry, I can’t help but wonder if that was ever truly the case or if it was just a further her own self-interests.

America’s Next Top Model first premiered in 2003. Tyra Banks was already a top supermodel in the fashion industry and decided her next move would be to focus on growing the industry of reality television. Tyra’s idea for America’s Next Top Model was developed alongside producer Ken Mok. >> Of course, your most successful hit so far, America’s Next Top Model.

>> Yes. Did you anticipate it being so successful? >> You know, you can never predict that kind of success. You know, when we made the show, we knew we made a good series and we thought it would have some lasting success. Did I think it would go 13 years and still going strong? No, absolutely not.

The show has not only been successful in the US, but now successful around the world. We have over 20 franchises now around the world and including one here, Korea’s Next Top Model. It’s been a highlight of my career. >> The concept was to make a reality show that could train up any person and launch them as the next big deal in the fashion world.

At this time, popular reality shows like Survivor, Big Brother, and Fear Factor were all relatively new reality shows. So, Tyra jumped onto a new wave she could see sprouting up with a niche of a focus on models. All attractive young individuals competing and being put down constantly in the process. Yet, this concept ends up being wildly popular and taking off.

America’s Next Top Model was also regarded as one of the pioneers of the reality TV technique known as the villain edit, which we see all the time nowadays. Whether it’s Love Island, modern Survivor, The Bachelor and Bachelorette, the villain edit is when particular contestants are harshly edited to create a bad impression of them, which may or may not be true to what actually took place on the show in reality itself.

Multiple America’s Next Top Model contestants alleged they were subject to this in the documentary. I actually started crying during the first episode when Ebony was talking about her sexuality. And the way that she talked about getting the angry black woman edit because they didn’t know how to deal with like Obviously, she was shutting down. She was a kid.

Like she said she was like 19 or 20 when she was on the show. She was being told that she was not good enough, that her hair was bad, that like she was never going to win. She’s getting all of this critique and all of this feedback. Of course that she’s shutting down. She wasn’t angry. She was devastated. >> it’s fascinating how easy it is to exploit vulnerable people.

And I would hope that the lesson of America’s Next Top Model is to not just play into the message that people are feeding us because it’s easy. “It wasn’t a model show. It was a new way of making TV shows,” said model Ebony Haith in Reality Check. Just last year, Ottega Uwagba reflected in the Grazia that the show’s secret sauce was the ritual humiliation and exploitation of often deeply vulnerable women.

I had come second in Britain’s Next Top Model. I thought it was going to change my life. I went up to London and no agency would sign me. I ended up working as like a cocktail waitress in London and people would recognize me and they were like, “Oh my god, are you that girl from Top Model?” I felt like I’d kind of failed.

And I feel like a lot of girls were sold the dream that America’s Next Top Model would like make you whatever the definition of success was. >> I feel like that’s kind of a scam. Maybe that’s not the right word to use, but I feel like the reason why so many people are sold this dream by reality TV that it’s going to make you someone famous is so reality TV shows can capitalize off of aspiring stars.

>> So, let’s discuss some of the tools deployed by America’s Next Top Model in order to humiliate and exploit vulnerable women on their show, who all thought they were going on to realize their dreams and in instead got handed a nightmare. Often on the show, there was body-shaming disguised as constructive criticism meant to help contestants become a better model.

Sometimes when a model is modeling, she’s doing smizing. It’s all fantastic, but her body is like this. Sometimes her body might be going fantastically and doing something great, but then her face is dead. If you were to do catalogs, you know, for plus-size models and stuff like that. Saying that I’m going to be able to get a rack like this loaded with clothes in your size.

>> It’s the illusion that your waist is wider. I don’t know about your ass cuz I really haven’t grabbed it in a while. Come over here, let me grab your ass. Let me see. Come over here. Flex it. Oh. Okay, it’s not a You don’t have an untoned ass. Contestant Giselle was told she has a wide ass.

Ebony was told her skin was ashy. When models were on a shoot, they were told to suck in their bellies because they looked bloated. >> It’s 40 in and you turn to the side and disguise it. I beg your finest pardon. What? Kinya Jones was ridiculed for her weight and told to pose as an elephant. >> My sin was gluttony. You want to hold your tummy like you’re pregnant.

Okay? I’ve seen drag queens softer than mine. Guest judge Janice Dickinson fat-shamed all the contestants in an episode and was often particularly brutal in her criticisms. Too old to be starting to model. She’s huge. She’s not going to be a top model. She won’t. Let’s see how far top one coming.

Beauty standards were enforced on the show with America’s Next Top Model rarely to never really challenging anything or doing anything really that revolutionary, even though the show was claiming that’s what they were trying to do. >> Having been in the industry, Me Too for me was the biggest thing that ever changed anything.

And I think Tyra and the crew could have been part of the change, but they weren’t. >> For this show to claim that it’s going to be the change and then perpetuate so much of that shit, to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, that sucks. >> At times, to achieve a certain desired look that Tyra envisioned for the contestants, the show had them undergo drastic procedures like shaving their heads or getting their teeth pulled.

>> Contestant Joanie on America’s Next Top Model had a lot of issues with her teeth. They pulled so many teeth on her. She had to sign a separate release form for this, and after the work they did, there were a lot of orthodontic issues with her teeth. Probably also remember Danielle from this season.

Danielle had a gap in her teeth that she really wanted to keep. However, Tyra Banks, along with the other judges, said that she needed to get rid of it. Danielle said that it basically got to the point where she knew that if she didn’t do this, she would be kicked off the show. Meanwhile, a few seasons after Danielle’s season, they actually widened the gap on a contestant.

>> was called Panda for their vitiligo on the show. >> So, listen, I know that you’re a little upset that I call you a panda. >> Yeah. I know when Tsai is calling me his lovable panda, it’s coming from a very loving place and not a malicious place. But, although it may not bother me, it could bother other people that have skin conditions.

>> When I call your name was never insulting and never harmful and never demean who you are. When I gave you the nickname it’s to help you. If you don’t understand it, you would no longer deserve that little soft nickname. I’ll call you Pokey pine from now on. >> Their health was put at risk due to the pressure on the show.

One contestant collapsed during a judges panel. I didn’t feel that you embraced Another went to the ER for exhaustion and dehydration, but had to leave the ER early so that she wouldn’t miss a photo shoot. >> Going through your film, I didn’t see you saying I didn’t see anything. >> I have a stomach condition and it is the worst pain in the world, but I just have to model through it.

>> Often times the challenges put the models in danger simply for entertainment purposes and not in ways that would really better them as models. Isn’t this about their skill to become the best model? But no, often times these challenges were for entertainment purposes and ridiculous in concepts and put them in danger.

None of them really applied to the modeling world. For example, in one cycle 14 episode models had to walk down a runway with a large pendulum swinging back and forth. Contestant Alexandria Underwood was hit by the pendulum and fell twice. Oh my gosh. Oh lord, my baby girl. I know that there’s some bizarre high fashion runways, but are there ever runways with booby traps, large obstacle courses and pendulums swinging from the ceiling? I mean, honestly in some ways I wouldn’t be that surprised if there was, but most of the time this isn’t something you

need to know to be a top model. And it was just a challenge to get people to fall, fail, and be humiliated. Cycle 7 winner CariDee English developed hypothermia while filming in a cold swimming pool. Medics had to pull her out of the pool when she began convulsing, but she was somehow blamed for that incident.

As a model, you need to tell people when you’re past your limit. Wow, you’re really going to blame her. You’re going to blame the model? >> She had reached the moment of hypothermia. You have to listen to your body. You have to tell us, okay? Contestant Eugenia Washington from Cycle 7 told Business Insider in 2022, “I felt like my life was being put on the line for ratings.

” Oftentimes the America’s Next Top Model challenges would become outrageous and offensive for shock value. The most infamous challenges were downright racist challenges. She clearly looks Asian. >> April, I’m getting a sense you’ve got this negativity towards your ethnicity. I’m half white and half Asian, okay? April doesn’t know what to call herself.

She justified it very clearly. Why are you so confused? The now well-known challenges when they swapped the models’ races. The thing is, did you know they did that three times? In the Netflix documentary, production claimed they regretted this shoot concept where they used makeup to have the models change their race.

The immediate moment of divide was the race swapping photo shoot, and that was in Cycle 4. I remember vividly that meeting where Tyra said, “I want to do this to celebrate women of color.” She had this reason that made no sense to me. >> But this happened three times. They had three chances to realize they should not do this.

The first and most infamous of these moments came during Cycle 4 episode 5, The Girl Who Is Contagious. For the challenge portion of the episode, contestants did a Got Milk? ad campaign. Jay Manuel said, “We’re actually going to switch your ethnicities.” >> We are actually going to switch your ethnicities. Because of this, a white model was wearing blackface and other blatantly racist stereotyping and situations.

>> really dark, tanned, Italian, Sicilian woman. And Noelle, we’re making you into a traditionally African woman with a head wrap and everything. Those are all terrible ideas. I’m half black. So, being transformed into a proud African woman for me is definitely an exciting experience. Oh my god, there’s more. They did more than one.

Okay, there’s more. And that girl in the back, too, they just They’re over there just painting everybody’s face. Hulu removed this episode, but after doing this a first time, the show did this a second time a few cycles later. In cycle 13, episode 8, contestants again had their races swapped for a challenge using makeup.

Tyra Banks asked them to portray two distinct races. They are literally putting blackface on her. Oh, NO. NO. SO MANY PEOPLE signed off on this and said it was fine. Yeah. You guys and girls are in full blackface. That was way worse than I thought it was going to be. Korean model Jennifer Ann told Intimate Weekly how the challenge made her uneasy.

“I looked around and I’m like, guys, but I’m in blackface right now.” And they’re like, “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine.” She recalled in 2023. Tyra Banks explained the challenges by saying, “This was my way of showing the world that brown and black was beautiful. Then we put it out there and the world was like, are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?” Looking at the show now through a 2020 lens, it’s an issue and I understand 100% why.

Then, the third time this happened, where contestants had to wear makeup to darken their skin, came in cycle 17, episode 5, which aired in 2011. 2011. They should have known better. And then again, it’s cycle 17, but on Michael Jackson’s shoot. Yeah. Who was okaying this? Three times. Do you know anything about Michael Jackson? >> I know what. Yeah. Nice. Oh my god.

Oh my god. They literally made her brown. Other racist incidents on the show was an incident when Jaeda Young was instructed to kiss a model who made disrespectful comments about her race, which no one should ever have to do for a reality show. So, do you want me to be like that? No, I I don’t like it.

And we’re almost done here, right? You what? Do you understand? No. Do you think I’m good? Oh my god. I’m good. And I say, I don’t like it. Good. Jaeda’s partner, Nacho, tells Jaeda that he’s even liked black girls. She’s like, “Are you serious?” >> Who is this man? And why is production not saying anything about this situation? Why is Jaeda being put into this predicament? >> Yaya DaCosta competed on a cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model, and in one of the challenges, the models were asked to select a hat that best represents their

style. Yaya chose a cowboy hat. When it was time for the judges panel, judge Nigel Barker told Yaya that everyone thought she would have gone for the African hat, in reference to the kufi hat that was included within the section. Then, fellow judge Rebecca Weinberg added, “You sometimes have this intensity to prove your blackness.

” What? What? She continued, “And I think sometimes it’s overbearing.” The way she should have been hit at that moment. How did you choose the cowboy hat? It’s more on the simple side compared to the other hats, so that I can be go crazy with accessories and express myself without being cliche. >> I feel half African, half cowgirl.

Looks like you’re about to ride a giraffe. >> You have this intensity to prove your sort of Africanness, and I feel that sometimes it’s overbearing. >> In response to trying to prove myself as an African, that’s just where I come from. It’s very natural to me. And I did not choose that hat for the very specific reason that it’s very cliche.

And the fabric that it’s made from is very artificial, very cheap, fake content. Years later in 2018, Yaya opened up about the moment, writing on her Instagram, “It a lot of work to heal from that experience, and looking back, I feel so much for that eager, vulnerable young version of myself. America’s Next Top Model also allowed bigotry on their show.

” Isis King was the first transgender model to compete on the show back in cycle 11. While the judges did treat her with respect, at least from what can be gleaned, some of her fellow competitors were blatantly transphobic towards her, which, in my opinion and many others, should not be allowed on the show, not only for the harmful stereotypes it perpetuates, but for the fact that you’re essentially allowing a hate crime by letting that go on unchecked.

These blatantly transphobic comments were filmed with little to no consequences towards the contestants. Contestant Casey Laguer said the show was a girl competition, and Clark Gilmer said she was willing to stomp that man right out of the competition. At first, the girls were bombarding me with questions about me transitioning from one gender to another.

What are you hiding? YOU HAVE A SWIMSUIT ON. The magic of tape. I said it’s over the top. America’s Next Top Model is not going to be a drag queen. I’m sorry, it’s not. Coming from a good southern family I was really thrown back by an Isis. Growing up in the South, you don’t exactly run into a he-she every day. Isis has no place in this competition.

What’s the funniest thing that’s in my head? How do I try to be sexy? Reality is, she’s a man. Kim Stolz competed on cycle 5 of America’s Next Top Model. During her first walk, she told the judges that she had more of a masculine look and that she was proud to be gay. Everything needs to be expressed. Strike a pose like whatever pose you want in that swimsuit.

Are we playing football? That was like One, two, three. And you know that’s about as much football And Tyra Banks had the most odd response to this. She replied, “Like I’m black and proud, but I’m not walking down the red carpet like I’m black. I’m black.” >> There was a moment where she got upset with me because she said I should have known better because I’m gay.

Interesting. Mhm. When was that? What do you on on the show? Yeah, I remember at one point she said, “Come on Miss Jay, you know, he’s gay, so he should have known better than that.” Put together. And it made me want to isn’t it pure hot heels or something? Like girl. Years later, judge Jay spoke about the incident stating that he was sitting right besides Tyra when she uttered the statement and felt very uncomfortable and confused.

I was in the room and I was sitting right next to Tyra. I remember feeling a little bit uncomfortable with the statement. I could see Tyra trying to draw the parallel and what she was trying to illustrate and I was confused about it. There were also the blatantly offensive photo shoots like the homeless themed photo shoot in which real-life unhoused people were used as extras.

Like she styled she looked better than me on my best days. It kind of is a little tone deaf. Like this is really what you think homelessness is? Like what is the makeup? >> There was also the shoot mocking model stereotypes which saw one model asked to pose throwing up in the toilet fake vomit on her.

In another photo shoot, models posed as murdered crime scene victims. Producer Ken Mok did apologize later for the shoot. I take full responsibility for that shoot. That was a mistake. I look back now and think it was a celebration of violence. It was crazy. That one I look back and I’m like you were an idiot. It one participant, Dion Walters, claims in the Netflix docuseries that people in production made her pretend she had been shot despite knowing that her mother had been shot and paralyzed.

That feels blatantly sadistic. In episode 8 of cycle 4, contestant Kahlen Rondot had to do a traumatic challenge just hours after revealing she learned of a friend’s recent death. She was instructed to pose underground in a grave. >> One of the models on the show finds out her friend passes away and then the next day or the day of they make her do a photo shoot laying in a coffin in a graveyard.

That’s the photo shoot concept. How good it is. You can tell how uncomfortable the model is just hearing the concept. >> But again, Tyra Banks claims that when it comes to all of these offensive shoots, that the audience was the people demanding it, shifting all the blame onto the audience. It was very, very intense, but you guys were demanding it.

Are you filming this? >> This is the lengths that America’s Next Top Model went to maintain its viewership, to maintain on top. But in the process, it scarred its contestants and became notorious for its controversial content. Contestants have spoken openly about how they’ve struggled to find legitimate modeling work after the show.

America’s Next Top Model, likely because of all of its ridiculous challenges that have nothing to do with actual modeling, was not taken seriously by the broader modeling sphere. So when contestants left the show, regardless of their performance on the show and whether or not they won, it was kind of like they were starting all over again in the modeling industry.

While there have been few contestants who’ve received modeling work and have even had a modeling career after their run on America’s Next Top Model, they have spoken about how hard it was to get work and how America’s Next Top Model did not help them at all. >> No one wanted to book me for their shows because I was viewed as like this reality star.

And so I knew very early on that oh, Top Model has a stigma. What angers me the most is the conversation that Tyra had with me years later. She told me that she’s like, “I knew that there were certain doors that you couldn’t even get into because you did Top Model and I did nothing about it.” >> Who knows what Tyra’s real reason for starting America’s Next Top Model was, but along the way Tyra became absolutely aware of the fact that Top Model was not taken seriously by the modeling industry and that she was actively encouraging people to join the show to fulfill their

modeling dreams while knowing that they would not be taken seriously by the modeling industry and she still encouraged them to do the show simply because she profited from it. Maybe in the first few seasons Tyra earnestly believed in her ability to make a career modeling for these women, but once you have evidence that your show doesn’t actually do anything for anybody, well, you got a machine going.

Keep on getting money. >> One of the most serious allegations regarding America’s Next Top Model were incidents where the production did not protect their models. In one incident during cycle two, contestant Shandi Sullivan lost her virginity on camera while highly intoxicated and blacked out, she was sexually assaulted.

She was sexually assaulted while being filmed and no one stepped in and intervened. Shandi rightly points out, “I think producers should have been like, all right, this has gone too far. We got to pull her out of this.” Which in a recent season of Below Deck, that was what was done with someone in a similar situation.

But Ken Mok said, “We treated Top Model as a documentary.” As if that’s a proper excuse as to why intervening to protect people’s safety was not necessary. But even then, I think in documentaries, when people are put in danger because of the documentary, where they might be raped or sexually assaulted, people intervene.

You are telling me that Tyra Banks edited America’s Next Top Model to make it look like Shandi cheated on her boyfriend when in fact she was essayed. Thing that drives me nuts about the situation is we hear Tyra say pretty much nothing about the situation except she wasn’t part of the production team that filmed this happening, but she was a part of the editing team that made it look like Shandi was just a downright cheater.

Shandi says on this documentary that she wanted to reach out to her boyfriend to tell him what happened, and at first they would not give her a phone to do it, and then she finally told them that she was just ready to leave America’s Next Top Model, and then they decided to give her a phone to call her boyfriend, but they said we have to record it.

The next day, Tyra brought up cheating right in front of Shandi, and then literally said, “Shandi, you cheated on your boyfriend.” >> The lifelong trauma that Shandi will have to live with for being sexually assaulted, for not being protected. There’s the fact that they filmed and exploited her trauma for their own profit, then turned around and shamed her for it, saying that she’s the one that cheated.

>> the Tyra Banks show. She would nominate Shandi under the craziest phone call and get and bring up this whole entire situation knowing in fact it wasn’t a cheating scandal. Two very different halls, two very crazy and bizarre moments, and it’s time for the nominees to reveal what really was going on. Let’s start with Shandi.

STAND ON UP, SHANDI. OH MY GOSH. YOU KNOW, I CANNOT WATCH enough of that. Like every and I’ve edited it, I’ve seen it a million times and every time I see it I’m like, “Oh my gosh.” What goes through your What was going through your mind when you were on that phone? Uh just uh what his reaction was going to be. Um in Italy.

>> Yeah, I was like, “Is he going to be cussing at me? Or is he going to be like, ‘Oh, what’s wrong with you? Why did you do that?'” Like I didn’t know if he’s going to cry or just like, you know. >> His response is really strong. I was actually kind of mad at him when he was like, “Stupid bitch.

” That was like kind of a bit much. Yeah, he um I mean, I don’t blame him though. Like I probably would have >> Did you deserve it? That cuss out? I don’t know. No. Are you fucking kidding me? Did you deserve it? She edited this. She saw everything and she asked if you deserved to get cussed out on the phone for being sexually assaulted. Fucking monster.

During one archival interview clip from when Top Model was on air, Ken Mok brutally says, “The biggest disaster ever is always the best thing. People have a 104° temperature. They’re throwing up. They need IVs. That’s the best news I could ever have. Whatever put the models in danger that they could film gave them more entertainment.

” There was a direct correlation to putting the models in danger that they directly profited from. >> As soon as we were off the plane, they put us on something called ice. We um couldn’t talk, right? And then we were in a hotel and we were locked in a hotel for a week. They didn’t tell us how long. We didn’t know what we were doing.

We didn’t know if we were even on the show and then that’s when they do the psych exam and uh they also do a health check and all that kind of stuff in that week. But you start to kind of slowly go a bit mental there. That process in itself would make any reasonable, logical person go insane.

In cycle four, Keenyah Hill was groped by a male model and voiced her discomfort in the moment, only to be told during judging that she handled the situation wrong by not acting more playful. During the shoot in South Africa, model Kenya Hill courageously stood up for herself, which can be hard to do in the moment. She called out the male model who was inappropriately touching her.

Instead of commending her for doing so, Tyra Banks minimizes what happened. >> Feminine wiles, like, “Boy, you best to back up before I knock you upside the head.” But, she’s doing it in a fun way, but he knows to back the heck up. But, it doesn’t really put static in the air cuz then it makes you uncomfortable. I’ve spoken about this a little bit.

I have a fawning trauma response, personally speaking, and in part, I would blame the modeling industry for a lot of this because when I was a minor and I was put in many uncomfortable situations, it is seen as a very negative thing to push back in any way. When you are on set and you’re told to pose in a certain way, to wear revealing clothing, to do any of that, when you want to push back, voice any amount of dissent, you’re seen as problematic for doing so.

And I think this is a great example of that. Some of those things are are also kind of the reality of the world. You know, unfortunately, in the fashion industry, there’s always been a lot of issues with, you know, sort of harassment and every sort of shape or way, whether you’re a male model or a female model. >> that was chosen is a photo of Bretini literally grabbing my legs.

Are we going to really choose the shot where he’s grabbing her in the shot? I mean, the receipts are right there. It has to be a way you can handle it. You know, you have to be able to be Some of Why did he smile like that? Nigel, as a male photographer, is like, “Yeah, this happens. Sexual harassment just happens in the industry.

It’s standard. You could have helped people, but no, they just have to deal with it.” In the documentary, Tyra Banks didn’t take full accountability, and instead explained, “I felt like that was empowering her based on the information I had.” I say to Keisha, “Boo boo, I’m so sorry.” I was trying to empower her to say, “You tell him to back up and da da da da. Don’t you mess with my shit.

” You know, that’s kind of what I was saying, not verbatim, because I felt like that was empowering her. We now all understand the protections that women need. And so, I say to Keisha, “Boo boo, I’m so sorry. None of us knew. Network executives didn’t.” It feels very condescending. There are also newer claims that Tyra Banks’ infamous meltdown was even worse than what was shown on the show.

In cycle four, Tyra Banks screamed at contestant Tiffany Richardson that infamous “I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you. How dare you?” When Tyra Banks had the opportunity to look back at the viral clip, she said, “I went too far. You know, I lost it. Probably bigger than her. That’s some black girl stuff that goes real deep inside of me.

” But, Jay Manuel reveals that what happened on set was worse than what was shown. Another insider said Banks was escorted off set, and Jay Manuel said that the next week all the lawyers were on set. And that so much more was said, and some things were really not well-intentioned. Tyra really scared all of us.

Like, we literally jumped out of our seats. What is happening right now? It was definitely the most difficult moment on set I had ever experienced. It was ugly. I’m learning something from this. You don’t know where the hell I come from. You have no idea what I’ve been through. But, I’m not a victim. I grow from it and I’ll learn.

Production staff literally just like took Tyra off set. Recalling the judging experience in a 2017 interview with BuzzFeed News, Richardson said, “We’d get picked apart for like 15 to 20 minutes each. If you say something back, you’re going to be up there for a minute. And sometimes they’d be going at it, like roasting the F out of us, back-to-back-to-back.

” Then, more recently, in a reply to a Tyra Banks post, Tiffany Richardson wrote, “You was a bully. You treated me like shit and said the nastiest things about me and my son. That is not how the argument went, but y’all edited it to make it look like you cared.” Yet, on the other hand, there’s some contestants who have been more in support of Tyra Banks.

The winner of season 1, Adrian Curry, They knew that my mama’s about to lose her house, and I was told, “You win this, you’re a millionaire overnight, you take care of your family.” And I you know, I told my family this, and I felt like I failed them. has been in support of Tyra through the controversy and refused to participate in reality checks, even speaking against it.

I think people psychoanalyzing it over 20 years later with a woke lens is absurd. >> Curry also made another Instagram post where she said she didn’t go on Reality Check because she didn’t trust them not to manipulate what she says. “I say no to all of these. I have zero trust in any producers, no desire to be really public in this day and age, and I’m hard retired from Hollywood.

” Isn’t that the exact thing that’s wrong with America’s Next Top Model in the first place? So, you agree with the criticism? >> America’s Next Top Model is getting their own documentary on Netflix, but Adrian Curry is already talking. >> When I won the show, I thought I was going to be a huge Revlon CoverGirl. So, they pushed off me getting this Revlon prize for like 8 months.

I went on season 2 of Top Model where they told me to lie and tell them how great my life was. She was promised to become America’s Next Top Model, and she says she never got anything. I mean, I literally lived in the projects. When they picked me up in the limo, I was terrified. >> In fact, the way they got her to keep promoting the show after she won is by telling her, “Your contract is still coming.” But, it never did.

So, imagine winning the biggest show on TV and then having to pretend like it changed your life when it didn’t. >> That’s evil, downright exploitation at its finest. CBS Mornings tweeted out, “Even Marcel, known as Eva Pigford on season 3 of America’s Next Top Model, which she won in 2004, says she was gobsmacked and amazingly horrified by the stories of other America’s Next Top Model contestants detailed in a new documentary Reality Check.

Marcel says her career is thanks in part to Tyra Banks and the competition reality show, but she acknowledges that hers is just one experience. To be part of a club and not know what’s going on in the club is crazy. I do feel a little bit skeptical that Eva hasn’t seen the controversies surrounding America’s Next Top Model, that she hasn’t stayed in touch with other models who have had issues with the show, that the first time she’s seeing Reality Check is the first time she’s aware of any potential criticism coming from the show whatsoever. I’m a

little bit skeptical of that, personally speaking. Shandi, who had shared details of her on-camera sexual assault in season 2, wrote a social media post about the show after Reality Check came out. “Well, the documentary is out now and you know more of my story. After all of the years, the Top Model girls and what we went through were never forgotten.

The first picture is of me going right back to work at Walgreens, fresh with a makeover and a secret that had to wait to air. I smiled through it, knowing that my friends, my family, Eric’s family, and strangers were going to know what I had done, what had happened to me. At the age of 43, I continue to struggle with it, always smiling.

That’s why I took this opportunity, knowing that Tyra didn’t have control over my narrative, that the director and producers here had my back. That’s why I did it. I did it for me, because I mattered and I still do. The love I have felt today has been immense. Thank you to everyone that heard me.” Contestant Lisa D’Amato wrote on Instagram her thoughts about the documentary, writing, “Watched the Netflix docuseries on America’s Next Top Model and I still think it’s sugar-coated.

It was way worse for so many of us, which makes you wonder what other stories are out there that haven’t been told yet. Apparently, there’s another upcoming docu series about the show called Dirty Little Scandals. Former contestants Ali Foe and Isis had a watch party. “Reality check movie night with my faves.” Ali Harvard wrote on a joint Instagram post.

Cycle 10 contestant Lauren went on social media and shared photos of her contract, which read in part “I acknowledge and agree that should I be killed, injured, or harmed during the transportation to or from any location in connection with the program, this participant agreement shall release the released parties from any claim whatsoever in connection therewith.

” “I was on America’s Next Top Model, and I didn’t skull emoji. Yay! Apparently, @netflix is dropping a doc soon, so I just wanted to share some souvenirs. Did you know that if we skull emoji on the show, they assume no responsibility? Cool, right?” In a statement to From Page, Brittany Curran Hatch spoke about her America’s Next Top Model experience, saying America’s Next Top Model alums weren’t just contestants, but survivors.

Whitney Thompson alleged in an interview that she was denied clothes that fit her. To People, she said, “I would go on the set, and they would have nothing that would fit me. It just makes you feel like shit to not be the right size. It was just demeaning.” She also alleged that plus-size contestant Toccara Jones was eliminated from the show when she voiced similar concerns.

“I just pretended like it didn’t bother me,” Whitney said. “I would cry in the shower every day because the shower’s the only place that cameramen couldn’t come.” When the public rallied around the former contestants who opened up about their experiences, what was most surprising is that much of the cast of the show, the judges, photographers, and other people involved in production, claimed that they also didn’t like what was happening and had issues with the treatment the contestants received or some of the decisions on the show, which

raises the question, who was making the decisions? The main criticism of the documentary was the fact that the production crew and people working on the show shifted blame and accountability all on to Tyra Banks because she was the face of the show. When in reality, they certainly had some level of culpability as well as some level of involvement and could have stopped at least some of what was going on and protected the models, but instead harm continued all for profit and views at the expense of the models. And now

they’re sitting in the documentary painting Tyra out to be the sole evildoer and saying they disagreed with what happened. Even Tyra herself would say she wasn’t part of the production when bad things occurred. And the documentary snarkily gave her the executive label to show, well, she is quite literally executively part of the production.

But it seems this is the excuse everyone gave in the documentary. When certain things happened, they weren’t there for it. Or if they were, someone else who had more power and control over production was in the room and didn’t put a stop to it at the time. When in reality, I think we know the true answer.

There was a culture on set to prioritize reality TV drama above the well-being of the contestants. I’ve never been friends with Tyra. Tyra is my boss, was my boss, and now my own boss. So thank you, Tyra. This reminds me of the bystander effect, that idea of well, I’m not the one to step in. There’s someone else who will step in and do something, which ends up leading to no one stepping in and doing anything.

Jay Manuel was Banks’s makeup artist and the show’s creative director. He would also go on to become a judge on the panel. Jay and Tyra clearly had a close friendship. However, as reality check shows, their relationship ended poorly when Jay Manuel wanted to leave the show after season 17.

In the docu-series, he claimed the show’s direction was changing and he wanted to pursue other projects. He said he sent Banks an email thanking her for the opportunity, but wanted to leave. But she didn’t respond. It was probably the longest three days ever, Jay said in the documentary, and that she ultimately just sent back three words saying, “I’m disappointed.

” >> Seeing Tyra’s reaction to being asked, is she ready to speak about what happened between her and myself? >> Can we talk now about what happened with you and Jay? Uh, I should call Jay. I don’t want to do this here. >> yourself? Yeah. My phone number’s the same, she knows it. I have not gotten a phone call, but I don’t think I will get that phone call, to be honest with you.

And I’m I’m not expecting it. In Tyra’s world, and this can speak to everyone in Tyra’s world, you don’t leave Tyra. Tyra leaves you. If I never spoke with Tyra again in this lifetime, I’m okay with that. I’m really okay with it. I don’t need it. >> Do you miss the friendship? I don’t. >> That seems entirely fair.

If someone treated me like that, too, just because I wanted to stop a business relationship, cool. Friendship over, too. >> Ultimately, when working on the show, it became clear to Jay that he wasn’t allowed to speak with Tyra Banks outside of being on camera, which became uncomfortable. It was like psychological torture. I felt broken, he said.

Miss Jay was also on America’s Next Top Model for 18 seasons and revealed in the documentary that he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2022 and spent five weeks in a coma. Both Manuel and Barker visited Miss Jay in the hospital. When producers asked Miss Jay if Tyra Banks ever visited, Miss Jay replies, “No, not yet.

” And then, almost as if Tyra Banks could sense that this question was going to be asked in the documentary, Miss Jay checked his phone and saw that Tyra had just sent a text saying she wanted to visit him. The people involved in production of America’s Next Top Model profited from the torment of the models on the show. Yet, throughout the documentary, they refused to own up to their mistakes and often shifted the blame.

Years later, the former contestants still express hurt from how the show affected them. This is the reality of reality television, and how will things change? Well, for starters, through people speaking out and continuing to advocate for change. Not allowing people to be exploited for entertainment. Forbes estimated in 2009 that Tyra Banks earned 30 million from America’s Next Top Model in that calendar year alone.

While former contestant Sarah Hartshorne claimed that she and fellow contestants were paid $38 a day when she participated in 2007. While America’s Next Top Model and Reality Check is in the news again, five former America’s Next Top Model contestants have united to lobby the government for more protections for reality TV stars.

Cycle 24 finalist Gina Turner posted on Instagram about a years-long fight for reality TV safeguards. Today was a very big day. Giselle, Brittany, both Sarah’s and I met with members of California legislative board to begin conversations about changing legislation and amending current laws to bring stronger protections to reality TV contestants, specifically after our experiences with America’s Next Top Model, Turner said in the Instagram video.

The former contestants taking part in legislative action are Hatch, Vonderhaar, Cycle 1 star Giselle Sampson, and Cycle 9 star Sarah Hartshorne. I admire these reality stars for using their platform to make a positive change, speak about their experience openly and candidly and work towards a better future for reality contestants tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Tyra Banks continues to do what Tyra Banks does. This time launching a new venture into ice cream? Tyra Banks hosted Dancing with the Stars for three seasons from 2020 to 2023. Later that same year, she moved to Sydney, Australia, where she launched an ice cream shop called Smize and Dream. Tyra began developing her ice cream company, Smize and Dream, during the pandemic, launching its first pop-up in Washington, D.C.

during the summer of 2024. She also launched at the beginning of this year Smize ice cream magazine, an Instagram carousel magazine. She continues to model and even release music here and there, including her 2025 holiday track Santa Smize, Santa Smize. She eventually launched her ice cream in the U.S.

But, the most perplexing aspect of Banks’ Smize venture was when she started to tease her hot ice cream on social media. >> Hot ice cream, so it’s like fried ice cream? So many people think it’s fried ice cream and they’re rolling their eyes at me and saying, “This ain’t nothing but fried ice cream.” >> Oh, got it.

So, it’s more like more like a melted ice cream, basically. >> Hell, no. The first time I we tried this, we took our ice cream base in its liquid form and heated it up and it was a mess. It was a hot mess. So, it almost sounds it’s like a creme anglaise. Is that like kind of close? I am an ice cream expert. Yes, she was. Creme anglaise is heavy in eggs, darling.

Okay. And if it gets too hot, it turns to scrambled eggs. Don’t come for me. Okay, do you do you chew it or do you sip it? Now, I’m saying that our ice cream is ice cream that you can chew. You chew it because every pint has a hidden Smize surprise >> does. >> hidden in there. When you find it and you chew it.

So, baby, we going We ain’t going to chew our We going to chew our ice cream and we going to sip our hot mama ice cream. Got it. >> Social media videos started popping up that showed Tyra talking about her hot ice cream in a very cryptic way. I feel like I’m going crazy. It’s like I don’t sleep. These ideas just keep coming in my head. It’s just like bam, wake me up.

And then this one this one came to me. Hot ice cream. Silky ice cream that you can drink. And the name of it is hot mama. Nobody in that documentary was talking about her hot ice cream. I know they brought it up once or twice at the end of the documentary that yes, Tyra Banks now owns an ice cream parlor.

But they just showed the normal ice cream. They made it seem normal. Nobody mentioned how much of her time and social media presence is dedicated to developing the perfect recipe for making ice cream hot. It’s described as a thick, sippable, warm, but not melted beverage of sorts. What is this? What is it? >> Of course it’s never been done before because it makes no sense.

>> Anyone in the US that wanted to see what the heck this was about was unable to at first as the hot ice cream was only available in Sydney, Australia. But recently Tyra Banks teased that hot ice cream would soon be available in several cafes or high-end restaurants in New York City.

“We’re going to start more artistic and the fancy Michelin’s. And then it’s going to end in a very approachable way to get it,” she said. A BuzzFeed reporter who tried the hot ice cream in New York City concluded that it’s really just sweetened warm milk with different flavors. More like the consistency of hot chocolate that you purchase for $12.

>> There I go. Going to the West Village to get some hot ice cream made by Tyra Banks. >> Yeah, you heard that right. I’m so excited to finally see someone trying hot ice cream. What is it going to be like? I don’t think anyone knows what hot ice cream is. Every time I say it, I just get faces of confusion. The cup is so dramatic, too.

Um, yeah, I think I do like it. I think I like it, maybe, is such a funny response. Have you ever had Duncan’s white hot chocolate? It tastes like Duncan’s white hot chocolate. That is so much more watery than you would think hot ice cream would be, at least to me. My hot chocolate is like cookie flavored, like a cookie flavored hot chocolate.

I don’t know, I give this like a 7.1. It’s good. Trying to be discreet cuz I’m in public. And honestly, it tastes like a cookie flavored hot chocolate. Yeah, that’s what I’m One thing is certain, Tyra Banks will always find a new way to confuse people. But, one would hope that at least hot ice cream is not actively harming people the way that America’s Next Top Model did.

At the end of the day, my conclusion to all of this is that when looking into the story of America’s Next Top Model and the way that everyday people trying to achieve a dream were exploited for entertainment, I can’t help but feel that social media is the new reality TV, where people are still being exploited for entertainment. So, all the lessons we’ve learned through America’s Next Top Model and the dangers of reality TV should be applied to what we’re consuming every day on social media.

We shouldn’t let people be harmed just for the sake of entertainment. Tyra Banks has hinted in reality check that America’s Next Top Model might be coming back for a cycle 25. It’s probably better that we keep America’s Next Top Model in the past. But Tyra Banks said in the documentary, “I feel like my work is not done.

You have no idea what we have planned for cycle 25.” And I think I speak for most people when I say we don’t want to. And that’s all for today’s video. I hope you enjoyed and thank you so much if you made it all the way to the end. If you made it all the way to the end, comment what you think Tyra Banks’ next business venture might be.

Not to give her any ideas, but since there’s so many dating reality shows, I definitely could see Tyra doing some sort of modeling/dating reality show. So, that’s mine. But, and I hope you’re doing well. I’ll see you in the next video. Stay well until then. Bye.