Tyra Banks addressed the backlash she’s received about things she has said and done on her former reality TV show, “America’s Next Top Model.”
“Over 20 years ago, I created a show called ‘America’s Next Top Model,’” she said during her speech at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards last Thursday.
“And you guys have no idea how hard we fought to bring the diversity to that television show at a time when it didn’t exist, to show different beauties at a time when the world was like, ‘What? You casting that?’” she added.
“A time when people in the fashion industry were telling me, ‘You putting the girls from the hood on your show?’ I was like, ‘Why can the girl from the trailer park become a supermodel but the girl that’s chilin’ in the park in the hood can’t?’ And we fought and we struggled and we made it happen.”
The supermodel, 51, then spoke about the criticism the show has gotten in recent years.
“Did we get it right? Hell no. I said some dumb s–t. But I refuse to have my legacy be about some stuff linked together on the internet when there were 24 cycles of changing the world,” she said.
“And I am so excited that I, and so many of us, have opened that door for others to follow.”
Banks, who was receiving the award as the first-ever Luminary Spotlight honoree, concluded her speech saying: “And now my 51-year-old, dimpled, cellulite-covered bigger tummy and 10 million times bigger titties is walking through that door that I opened with all of us behind us on that runway saying, ‘Baby, it’s just the beginning.’”
“America’s Next Top Model” premiered on UPN in May 2003 and ran for 24 seasons across different networks until 2018.
In 2020, clips from the competition series, which aimed to turn everyday women and men into supermodels, resurfaced on social media, with fans sharing negative feedback about how the contestants were treated on the show.
In one episode, Banks told contestant Dani Evans she’d never be a “covergirl” with a gap in her teeth. In another clip, a contestant was dressed in blackface for a photoshoot.
The former Victoria’s Secret model also allegedly told “Below Deck” chef Rachel Hargrove that she was a “plus size model” when she auditioned for the show in 2005.
Banks previously admitted that some of her past remarks about the contestants were “insensitive.”
“Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you,” the Sports Illustrated model tweeted at the time.
“Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs.”
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