“America’s Next Top Model” alum Shandi Sullivan has accused the hit reality TV show’s producers of framing her alleged sexual assault as a cheating storyline.
Sullivan, 43, reflected on the shocking incident and its aftermath during Netflix’s upcoming three-part docuseries “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” which releases on Feb. 16.
The former contestant claimed that the sexual assault incident unfolded during a trip she and her fellow Season 2 models took to Milan in 2003.
“When we first got there, they said, you’re gonna go to a bunch of go-sees,” Sullivan recalled during the docuseries, per People. “That was all day long. It took all day long. And then we went back to our little house that we were staying at.”
But the night took a turn for the worse after a few male models were invited over to “have dinner” and “have some wine” with the “ANTM” girls.
“I’m just excited to have a night,” the former Walgreens clerk said. “We were just like talking, drinking. I don’t think I’d eaten anything at all or had any sleep.”
“I remember getting in the hot tub. I remember April [Wilkner], Mercedes [Scelba-Shorte] getting in the hot tub,” she continued. “And then I just remember the guy looking at me, and I looked at him. And I was pretty drunk at that point. Everything kind of after that is just a blur.”
Sullivan alleged one of the male models was “on top” of her while she was “blacked out.” She further claimed that “no one did anything to stop” the alleged sexual assault, even though “it all got filmed.”
The alleged incident continued to escalate, though.
“I was hammered,” the former contestant said through tears as she recalled the Milan incident. “I think I had two bottles of wine by myself. I just remember, like, little bits and pieces.”
“He threw me in the shower and then just sitting in the shower. And then we’re in the bed,” Sullivan claimed. “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.”
It wasn’t until the next morning that Sullivan woke up and “it all f–king hit” and “flooded over” her, at which point she “just sat there and cried.”
Although footage from the next morning showed Sullivan crying and saying that she “just want[ed] to die,” the alleged sexual assault was framed as her cheating on her then-boyfriend, Eric.
Sullivan went on to say that the “ANTM” producers should have “stopped” her and the male model once they got out of the hot tub together. Executive producer Ken Mok, however, disagreed.
“We treated ‘Top Model’ as a documentary, and we told the girls that,” he explained during the upcoming docuseries, per the Independent. “There’s going to be cameras with you 24/7, and they’re going to cover everything, the good, the bad, and everything in between.”
“That was, for good or bad, one of the most memorable moments of ‘Top Model,’” Mok added.
As for Sullivan and her then-boyfriend, they ultimately broke up after she finished Season 2 in third place behind Scelba-Shorte and winner Yoanna House.
“He moved with me to New York after the show. But it would suck when I’d be walking with Eric down the street, and somebody’d recognize me and call me a s–t to my face,” she shared.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
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