America’s Next Top Model’s biggest scandals: Tyra Banks’ toxic show fouled by racism, fat-shaming and a sexual assault cover up

Tyra Banks has come under fire following the release of Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model. 

The Netflix show delves into the toxic truth behind the Noughties competition series – with former contestants speaking out about the horrific conditions on set and behind the scenes. 

Fronted by supermodel Tyra, the series plucked aspiring models out of obscurity and offered them a global stage to showcase their talents, promising overnight fame and the chance to earn the title of ‘America’s Next Top Model’. 

Yet two decades on, the contestants have spoken out about being pushed to their physical and mental limits as they tried to live up to Tyra’s exacting standards, while producers would toy with their emotions to create drama. 

The Netflix expose looks back on some of the show’s biggest controversies, with host Tyra, TV producer Ken Mok and judges Jay Manuel, Miss J and Nigel, questioned about the show alongside former contestants. 

So what were America’s Next Top Model’s biggest scandals? 

Controversial photoshoots 

While ANTM was known for pushing the boundaries with its photoshoots, one of its most unhinged concepts came in season four, when the models were required to ‘swap race’.

The shoot was presented to demonstrate how makeup can ‘transform’ but it saw the white models don blackface while the black models were dressed up as Native American and Korean – all while posing with a child of the same race they were representing. 

Tyra defended the shoot, confessing: ‘I didn’t think it was controversial. I was in my own little bubble, in my own little head. This was my way of showing the world that brown and black is beautiful.’

To make matters worse, the concept was repeated nine cycles later in Season 13.

Another inappropriate photoshoot saw the models pose as homeless people while in shot with people who really were living on the streets. 

Judge Jay described the concept to the models by telling them: ‘We’re going to put a spotlight on a major issue, and that is homeless youth.

‘You’re going to be posing with homeless partners, but here’s the deal. You girls will be in street clothing, and the other girls will be in high fashion.’

The shoot was inspired by Tyra’s experience of posing as a homeless person for a day for her talk show.  

Season eight contestant Dionne Walters appeared on the show to hit out at the crime scene photoshoot, that required her to to pose as if she had been shot in the head, despite producers knowing that her own mother had been shot and left paralszed.

She shared: ‘They knew about it from the application process, but they still chose to have me do this particular photo shoot that involved gun violence.

‘I thought it was a coincidence at the time, but I don’t think that it was. I think they wanted to see some type of mental breakdown or to see me crumble. I’m just glad they didn’t get the reaction they were hoping for.’

Producer Ken then took ‘full responsibility’ for the shoot, saying it was a ‘mistake to celebrate violence’ in that way.

Of the bizarre photoshoots, Tyra said: ‘We kept pushing more and more. You guys were demanding it! The viewers wanted more and more.

‘‘Yeah, there’s some dumb s**t. I mean, dumb. I’m like, “What the hell.”’

Sexual assault ‘cover up’ 

Arguably the most memorable storyline from ANTM season two revolved around Shandi Sullivan ‘cheating’ on her boyfriend with an Italian model. 

The cameras rolled as Shandi slept with the model before tearfully calling her boyfriend – who later dumped her. 

Now, Shandi has claimed that what was framed as a drunken indiscretion was in fact sexual assault, revealing she ‘blacked out’ before the act but ‘no one did anything to stop it.’

Speaking on the Netflix show, she shared: ‘I remember being in the shower. And then just sitting in the shower. And then we were in the bed. 

‘I was blacked out for a lot of it. I didn’t even feel sex happening, I just knew it was happening, and then I passed out.

‘I think after getting out of the hot tub, and whatever happened after that, I think they should’ve been like, “All right, this has gone too far. We gotta pull her out of this.”‘

On the decision to keep filming, executive producer Ken said: ‘We treated Top Model as a documentary. 

‘We told the girls that on day one, when they would show up, “There’s going to be cameras with you 24/7, day in and day out, and they’re going to cover everything.”‘

As for Tyra, she opted not to comment on the scandal, stating: ‘it’s a little difficult for me to talk about production because that’s not my territory.’

‘Racist’ remarks  

Season one’s Ebony Haith has spoken out about her treatment as a black woman on the show, where she was referred to as ‘harsh, aggressive, and angry.’

She revealed the mistreatment started from the very beginning when she underwent a makeover for the show, recalling: ‘I’m sitting there, and I have three of the top stylists over my head, laughing at my hair texture. 

‘It was really just frustrating. People did not have the correct clippers. Everyone basically said they didn’t know what to do.

‘They ended up giving me three bald spots. Very disappointing.’ 

Ebony revealed she got a call from Tyra later in the day: ‘I’m thinking that my sister is going to understand. 

‘I thought she was going to say, “Girl, don’t worry, I’ll go to Harlem.” And she says, “The judges have been talking to me, and they’ve been saying you’ve been showing up ashy every day.” And I’m blown away.”

Ebony continued: ‘I didn’t understand why they chose those specific words when this is a word that’s been used in history that’s made us feel less-than.’

A clip then showed Tyra telling Ebony: ‘With your skin texture, being an African American woman, it should be like butter. At the retouching session, your photo was the hardest we had to do.’

Fat-shaming 

Season 1 contestant Giselle Samson has revealed that comments the judges made about her weight have stayed with her two decades on. 

In one scene, the judges were seen scrutisining one of her photographs, with one judge remarking: ‘She’s got a wide a**,’ to which another judge agreed: ‘It’s kind of wide.’ 

Giselle was just 18 at the time and revealed: ‘How I left feeling about myself in that moment has stayed with me forever. Why does my a** have to be so wide? That’s how I talk to myself to this day.’ 

Judge Janice Dickinson also famously teared into season four contestant Keenyah Hill after taking part in a seven deadly sins themed photoshoot, where she portrayed gluttony. 

Janice branded the model ‘piggy chic,’ while the judges agreed that she ‘looked dumpy’. 

In another shoot, Janice called out Keenyah’s ‘gut’, while the model was also chosen to represent an elephant in an animal-themed shoot. 

Whitney Thompson, the first ‘plus-size’ winner of America’s Next Top Model, opened up about the struggles she faced feeling fat shamed on Tyra Banks’ show.

The model, who won cycle 10 of the show in 2008, recalled some of her lowest moments, including feeling that certain challenges were made deliberately harder for her as a plus-size model.

Whitney, who was just 20 and a US size 6 (UK size 10) when she started on ANTM, told People that not having proper clothes for the plus-size contestants ‘felt intentional’.

‘I just pretended like it didn’t bother me, but, and I’m sure most of the girls would do this, I would cry in the shower every day because the shower is the only place that the cameramen couldn’t come, so that was your safe place to release and be like, “Why are they doing this to me?”’ she explained.

She added, ‘I knew that they were trying to poke me and get something out of me, so I just played it cool, like, “That’s fine. We’ll just duct tape my dress. No worries.'”

On-set harassment

Season four’s Keenyah recalled being harassed after male models were brought in for a photoshoot in Africa, claiming model Bertini was ‘aggressively hitting on’ her.

Keenyah recalled: ‘Bertini was touching me, grabbing me… To be on a TV set in front of so many people and still not be protected is some pretty dark stuff.’ 

While she asked to stop the shoot after revealing she felt ‘uncomfortable’, Keenyah claims she had no sympathetic response from the crew, with the picture ultimately chosen as her best being one where Bertini was grabbing her legs. 

At the time Tyra advised Keenyah to use her ‘feminine wiles’ and lightheartedly ask men to ‘back off’ if they made her uncomfortable on a set. 

However, addressing the controversy now she admitted she was in the wrong and apologised to Keenyah for her flippant response. 

Unwanted cosmetic procedures 

While the models traditionally underwent makeovers at the start of the series – typically just a change in hair and makeup – Tyra ramped up the ante in season six when she surprised two models with a trip to the dentist.

The cycle’s winner Dani Evans arrived with a gap between her teeth, a quirk she called her ‘signature’ look.

Yet Tyra took issue with Dani’s appearance, telling her: ‘Do you really think you can have a cover girl contract with a gap in your mouth? It’s not marketable.’

Dani recalled: ‘When Tyra called my name she was like, if I decided to keep you, are you going to get your gap closed? That’s when I was like, “So what you’re saying to me is if I don’t get my gap closed, you’re going to send me home?”

‘I decided to play the game and got my gap closed. It’s my life and it was toyed with, consciously. And me saying no and then going against that, it’s invasive.’ 

Reflecting on the incident, Tyra shared: ‘I’ve actually apologised for the issue with Dani and what happened. 

‘That was between a rock and a hard place for me, because there were agents that would tell me, “She will not get work with those teeth.” 

‘Again, I could have just been quiet and let them handle it. But that’s hindsight/ 20/20 for all of us. It just so happens that a lot of things that are 20/20 for me happened in front of the world.’

Yet Dani revealed she didn’t accept the apology, stating ‘me getting my gap closed is not opening any doors for me’, before accusing Tyra of ‘making good TV at my expense’.

That same season, runner-up Joanie Dodds was encouraged to go to the dentist to fix her ‘snaggletooth’. 

While Joanie was happy to go through with the procedure, she noted that she had to sign a release on the spot without talking to her mother or a lawyer first. 

She revealed she had no idea what the procedure would entail, with the surgery lasting all night, removing several of her teeth and having all her front teeth shaved down.

Joanie recalled: ‘The next photoshoot we did was actually the one where we were crying. I was like, I am in pain. This isn’t hard. I was so miserable.’ 

She also noted that the surgery was purely for aesthetic purposes, stating. ‘I’ve still got a crazy bite issue, and those problems will never be resolved. 

‘It was f***ed up, but at the end of the day, I was a grown adult woman with teeth I thought I would never fix, so I felt like I’d won the lottery.’

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is available on Netflix