If you were ever a fan of America’s Next Top Model , back in the early 2000s, then you probably remember how messy that show was.
At the time, we loved all the drama. But in hindsight, there were definitely quite a few problematic moments, and clips of those moments have recently been circulating the web, raising the question of whether or not Tyra Banks is a decent human being…
Back in the early 2000s, *America’s Next Top Model* aired its very first episode on UPN, strutting its way into our hearts.
Hosted by Tyra Banks , the reality series aimed to weed out the best aspiring models in the country, and crown the one true top model every year.
At the time, fans loved it. We couldn’t get enough of the shade, drama, meltdowns, catfights, and Tyra telling girls to smile with their eyes (I still don’t know what that means).
But admittedly, the show has aged very poorly.
Which was to be expected, really.
There are countless obvious reasons why the modeling industry itself is fundamentally flawed.
From the training to how they have to eat, it’s a mess.
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But putting that aside, there was A LOT of other things on the show that would never fly on TV (or real life?) nowadays.
A few clips in particular recently resurfaced the Internet, and fans can’t believe they ever found this type of behavior acceptable!
In one clip, Tyra insists that one of the models needs to fix the gap between her teeth.
I know what you’re thinking: yikes.
“Do you really think you can have a Cover Girl contract with a gap in your mouth?,” Tyra says to one of the contestants.
“Yes, why not?,” the model replies.
“This is all people see,” Tyra says, pointing her finger on her front teeth, trying to drive her point home. “It’s not marketable.”
Umm, rude!
To make matters worse, in a later season Tyra actually wanted to widen another model’s gap.
And because she was a white contestant, there is some speculation that Tyra was especially hard on the previous contestant because she had darker skin.
Not cool.
Speaking of which, another clip from the series has been going around, shedding light on a whole other race-related issue.
During a “bi-racial” photoshoot, Tyra had some white contestant’s painting their skin darker, something we now know as blackface.
I can’t believe we didn’t see this as a red flag at the time…
There was also an instance where Tyra insinuated that it was unnecessary for one of the contestants to flaunt the fact that she’s a lesbian.
Yes, I am shaking my head. Tyra. WYD?
It’s called gay pride for a reason. I guess Tyra missed the memo.
Another fan pointed out another episode where Tyra allegedly “manipulated” one of the contestants to shoot a naked next to a man, after expressing she was a victim of sexual assault and didn’t feel comfortable around men.
I seriously cannot believe how big of a savage Tyra was and how none of us saw anything wrong with it.
The list goes on. But when Tyra realized that she was suddenly trending on Twitter after all these years, and not for a positive reason, she decided to chime in and take some accountability.
She acknowledged that there were certainly some insensitive moments on the show, and apologized for the part she had in them.
“Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you,” she tweeted.
“Looking back, those were some really off choices .”
I would say that “off” is an understatement. But at least she knows now that that type of behavior is not okay.
“Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs,” she concluded.
While Tyra was the host of the show and most likely did act candidly toward the models while filming, she isn’t entirely to blame .
Before you lose it, continue reading.
The show’s producer, Ken Mok, also weighed in on the drama and took responsibility for his part in it all.
“Want to reiterate what @tyrabanks said. I look at some of those #ANTM moments and cringe,” he wrote .
So he’s owning up to it as well (which is amazing).
“Just a FYI – the entire creative team made the choices in those shows – not just Tyra,” he explained.
“So please feel free to yell at me for some of the worst moments in ANTM history! Apologies to all.”
Saying sorry is very important, so we’re glad that both of them said something about it.
“Yes, times have definitely changed. Thank goodness they have,” he wrote in a separate tweet.
“And truthfully, we all learn more from our mistakes in life than our successes. I am certainly learning from these comments, both negative and positive #ANTM ,” he concluded .