Topline
The stars of the controversial 2000s reality series “America’s Next Top Model” are speaking out about the decades of backlash that has piled up on the competition series in a new Netflix documentary, but fans are already criticizing show creator Tyra Banks for “gaslighting” and blaming viewers for the show’s problems in a trailer for the film.
J. Alexander, Tyra Banks and Nigel Barker serve as the panel of judges in the fifth season of “America’s Next Top Model.”
CBS via Getty Images
Key Facts
Netflix on Monday released a trailer for “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” a documentary promising a behind-the-scenes look at the show’s “complicated history” with interviews from former producers, contestants, winners and judges Jay Manuel, J. Alexander, and Nigel Barker.
The trailer promises the stars, including host and supermodel Banks, will address the copious amount of backlash against the show, which saw dozens of girls each season compete to be crowned “America’s Next Top Model” based on their performances in highly produced photo shoots, commercials, fashion shows and challenges that tested their fashion knowledge, acting, musical ability and other skills.
The show’s culture has been the subject of intense criticism for its body shaming language, promotion of disordered eating, emotional manipulation of contestants, dangerous makeovers and questionable photoshoots, some of which included putting the models in blackface or having them pose as dead bodies.
In a snippet of her interview, however, fans online were quick to point out that Banks seems to shift blame away from herself and other creators and toward the show’s audience: “I knew I went too far. It was very, very intense, but you guys were demanding it, so we kept pushing it, more and more and more,” Banks said.
“Tyra I was 7 years old why are are we shifting the blame [sic]?” one X user wrote, with another adding, “Blaming the audience for your lack of empathy and power-hungry, manipulative behavior ain’t it.”
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Jay Manuel in “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.”
Courtesy of Netflix
What To Watch For
“Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” will debut on Netflix on Feb. 16.
Crucial Quote
“There was a moment I realized, ‘Oh my God, I think we’ve built a monster,'” “America’s Next Top Model” producer Ken Mok says in the documentary’s trailer.
Big Number
100 million. That was the size of the “America’s Next Top Model” global audience at its peak, according to Netflix.
Key Background
“America’s Next Top Model” ran for 24 seasons between 2003 and 2018. The show was created and hosted by Banks, who often said she created the show to challenge fashion industry norms and promote diversity and inclusivity. The series was spun off in dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, New Zealand and Australia. At the time, “America’s Next Top Model” was ultra popular with young women and it wasn’t until the late 2010s and early 2020s that backlash began in earnest. Social media amplified criticism, specifically how Banks treated contestants, and a clip of her screaming at Season 4 contestant Tiffany Richardson has gone viral across multiple platforms. As the backlash mounted, Banks made several comments apologizing for her behavior and “off choices.”
What Were The Most Controversial Moments On ‘america’s Next Top Model?’
Several of the show’s photoshoots have been slammed in retrospect for various insensitivities. In Season 4 and Season 13, the girls were assigned different ethnicities for a photoshoot and their styling included darkening their skin and changing their hair and clothing to help them “take on the persona” of another race. Some photo shoots had the women posing as victims of violent crimes or accidents, including one model who was told to pose as someone who just died from an overdose shortly after losing her close friend to drugs. In another shoot, the models posed as homeless people. Other photoshoots put the models in extreme conditions, including freezing cold water or dangling from high places. In one season, Banks implied lesbian contestant Kim Stolz should tone down her sexuality. One repeated criticism of the show has been in how the judges discussed body image, including when supermodel Janice Dickinson described a size 10 contestant as “fat” and “huge.” Contestants were often told they needed to lose or gain weight to fit certain beauty standards, and one clip, which was later removed from show promotional materials, saw Banks praise a contestant for having the “smallest waist in the world.”
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