Tyra Banks Deflects Blame in Netflix’s 'ANTM' Docuseries: ‘You Guys Were Demanding It’
Are you going to be on top? Well, Tyra Banks might not be ready for the road to redemption after years of America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) controversies.
A new Netflix docuseries, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, doesn’t seem to be changing the narrative for the 52-year-old supermodel. America’s Next Top Model premiered in 2003 on UPN and ran for 24 “cycles” on the network, eventually moving to The CW in 2006, and VH1 in 2016. Despite its incredible success, fans have long discussed the issues with the show’s content and have asked Banks repeatedly for accountability.
To her credit, Banks appears in the three-part docuseries, but it might not be the happy ending viewers were looking for. In the episodes, she “presents herself as a trailblazer determined to democratize modeling and diversify fashion” but seems “intent on upholding the toxic status quo,” criticized The Guardian in their review. Banks didn’t fare much better with former contestants from ANTM over the years.
Cycle 5 contestant and Cycle 17: All Stars winner Lisa D’Amato lashed out to Page Six about her former boss. “Tyra’s all about making money. She doesn’t have any real empathy for anybody else but herself,” D’Amato claimed. “In order for her to save face to make more money in the future, she’s going to have to take a bit of accountability.”
Banks appears to shrug off some of the responsibility even though she was the creator, executive producer, and host of the series. In the trailer, she is seen saying, “I knew I went too far. … It was very, very intense. … But you guys were demanding it.”
According to docuseries director Daniel Sivan, Banks had “no creative control” over her edit in the Netflix show. “People were here to say, ‘hey, this is me, and this is what made me do these things,” he told Page Six. “We want people to be angry and also to love this [doc], and we want them to debate it with each other.”
Fans who have already watched the show are already chiming in on X with their opinions, and Banks might not like what they have to say.
“Watching the new Netflix documentary about America’s Next Top Model, and I honestly can’t believe how cold Tyra Banks is coming across. Even after all the backlash, there’s just zero warmth or accountability. This is really changing how I see her,” wrote one account.
“Was the #RealityCheck ANTM documentary meant to help Tyra Banks clear her name? Cause idk if it did,” added another social media user.
Still, Banks has at least one follower rooting for her. They wrote, “They will never make me hate Tyra Banks.”
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is now streaming on Netflix.
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