12 shocking moments from the America's Next Top Model Netflix documentary that left us gobsmacked
Tyra continues to face backlash...America’s Next Top Model is back in the headlines after its Netflix documentary, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, has kept people talking.
The three-part documentary revisits the modelling competition, which ran for 24 cycles between 2003 and 2018. Host Tyra Banks and her executive producer, Ken Mok, have spoken out, as have countless contestants and judges.
The show is no stranger to being accused of being problematic and controversial. However, it seems the Netflix show has continued to shine a bad light on certain figures. Meanwhile, others have finally been allowed to share their story with viewers.
Here, we count down the 12 moments from the doc that left us totally shocked.
1. Ebony was outed on the show without her permission
In the first episode, titled On Top, the America’s Next Top Model documentary delved into the first cycle of the show.
Contestant Ebony Haith opened up about the hardships she faced. When she auditioned, Tyra immediately confronted her about her sexuality without her permission, asking her how she felt about expressing that on national television.
“That’s kind of how the world found out I was gay,” Ebony admitted, adding: “I’d hoped they’d at least pull me to the side and say, ‘How do you wanna approach this?'”
Ebony insisted the show forgot about the “danger” of coming out during the early 2000s, but didn’t shy away from her sexuality because she hoped it would help other celebrities.
2. She was also ruthlessly stereotyped because of her race
Excited to be a part of the show, Ebony soon felt like she was misrepresented. When she received her makeover, which was a shaved head, she stated she had “three of the top stylists over my head laughing at my hair texture”.
Ebony accused the show of not having the correct hairclippers and didn’t know what they were doing. As a result, she was left with “three bald spots”. A clip was then shown where Ebony said it is “very upsetting” to have an African American woman in a salon and have her hair done “incorrectly”.
At the end of the day, Tyra reached out to Ebony. Hoping she would have her back, things proved to be more humiliating. According to Ebony, Tyra told her: “The judges have been talking to me and they’ve been saying you have been showing up ashy every day.”
Ebony explained that the word “ashy” has been used to make Black women feel “less than”. She expected Tyra to be more concerned for her skin rather than bring her down.
Gobsmacked, Ebony admitted she was “blown away” and soon realised she was “being treated differently” because of her race. The doc then cut to clips of Tyra critisicing Ebony for her skin, stating it should “feel like butter” due to being an African American woman.
Ebony admitted she wanted to say more on the show but realised she needed to “be still”, realising they were pushing a stereotype and narrative on her. She was also accused of being “aggressive” and “harsh”.
“My heart was breaking as I was on this national show,” Ebony explained while getting upset.
3. The body-shaming left a big impact on Giselle
Giselle Samson, from Cycle 1, also expressed how she was heavily affected by the show.
During one of the elimination processes, Miss Jay Alexander insisted she needed to “tighten up” her body. Tyra then immediately remarked: “She’s got a wide [bleep],” to which Janice Dickinson agreed, stating: “It’s kinda wide!”
In the America’s Next Top Model documentary, Giselle explained that she was 18 on the show and still “growing into my body”. She noted they left those remarks in the show, which has since impacted her.
“Why does my [bleep] have to be so wide? That’s how I talked to myself, to this day,” she said.
4. Shandi was treated poorly after being filmed with an Italian model
One of the most memorable moments from Cycle 2 was when it was portrayed that Shandi Sullivan cheated on her boyfriend with an Italian model.
However, years after that narrative was pushed on the show, Shandi finally had her say on how it went down for her.
“I was hammered, I think I had two bottles of wine to myself. I just remember little bits and pieces,” she said.
Recalling that she was in the shower, she then remembered she was in a bed, realising that she had “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,” she continued.
The next morning, Shandi realised something was wrong, questioning: “What the [bleep] happened last night?” expressing that it “hit me”.
While getting emotional, Shandi said that producers should have stopped filming and helped her.
Shandi revealed she “kept demanding” to leave the show, and production wouldn’t let her. She said she wanted to phone her boyfriend, Eric, but they refused to give her a phone. However, conveniently, they managed to find one when she refused to film for the show.
For years, ANTM tried to portray Shandi as the one at fault. They even named the episode “The Girl Who Cheated.”
She also alleged that cameras followed her to the doctor — footage that never aired — and claimed they filmed her confronting the Italian model about STDs and protection.
Hitting back at production, she said: “Why can’t you ask them yourself? Why do you have to film this?”
5. A triggering photoshoot was deliberately done to test Dionne
In Cycle 8, the contestants had to pose dead at a crime scene. Each girl was assigned a different narrative of how they died.
Some were sliced open, some were pushed, others were shot, etc.
Dionne Walters, who finished in fourth place, revealed to the show that her mum was shot by a guy, which left her paralysed and in a wheelchair.
In the doc, Dionne said that production knew this from her application process and still forced her to do the photoshoot, where she had to pose as if she was shot in the head.
“I thought it was a coincidence at the time, but I don’t think it was,” she said. “I think they wanted to see some type of mental breakdown or see me crumble. I’m just glad they didn’t get the reaction that I feel like they were hoping to get.”
Ken Mok admitted he took “full responsibility” for the shoot and said, in hindsight, that it was a “mistake” and a “celebration of violence”.
6. Jay Manuel didn’t want to be a part of the ‘race-swapping shoot’
During Cycle 4, Tyra Banks and the production team made the controversial decision to have contestants participate in a photoshoot where they “switched” ethnicities.
Essentially, the girls were put in black and brownface.
The creator director, Jay Manuel, was against the idea and said he asked to be “excused” from the shoot. He said that Tyra told him that she would “handle this on camera with the girls at judging”, impying she had it under control.
She told him to “go and do your job”. He recognised that his “rule” started to have “limitations”, stating: “That shoot was happening, regardless.”
The shoot went ahead, but has since remained one of the most controversial shoots to date. Tyra insisted it was her way of trying to celebrate ethnicities and did confess that it was a wrong move on her part.
7. Keenyah’s weight was used as a storyline
Throughout the majority of Cycle 4, Keenyah’s weight was discussed a lot. She was accused of gaining several pounds during the show, and as a result, production has been accused of using it as a storyline for entertainment.
During their Seven Deadly Sins shoot, Keenyah was assigned gluttony. The following week, the contestants were asked to portray different animals, with Jay Manuel assigning each a creature he felt reflected their personality. Brutally, Keenyah was told she had to portray an elephant.
In judging, Tyra accused Keenyah of pointing the finger after she told her she had to do a lot of retouching on her photo. Janice was also less than supportive about her body.
“In hindsight, they just had to find something,” Keenyah said in the doc, referring to the “narrative” they built around her for the show. After being told she needed to be an elephant, she admitted: “That’s when I knew, this was intentional.”
“It felt unfair and felt kinda dirty,” Keenyah continued. She also accused the production of editing her eating the same bagel, making it seem as if she was eating three in a row.
8. The America’s Next Top Model documentary claimed there was more said during the infamous Tyra yelling at Tiffany scene
During the same cycle, Tyra infamously yelled at Tiffany following her elimination, where she accused Tiffany of treating the competition like a joke. “Looks can be deceiving and I’m hurt,” Tiffany said, adding that she was “sick of being disappointed.”
Tyra didn’t agree, and when Tiffany became defensive, Tyra completely lost it. She told Tiffany to “be quiet” and stop talking, yelling, “I have never yelled at a girl like this! When my mother yells like this, it’s because she loves me. I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you, how dare you!” She ended by demanding that Tiffany “take responsibility for herself.”
The scene has since become a huge meme. However, according to the doc, we didn’t see the full edit.
“There was a lot more that was really said,” Jay Manuel revealed. “Some of the things that were said were not well-intentioned.”
“I will probably never repeat the lines that were actually said in that room that day,” he added.
Judge Nolé Marin noted the show had “all the lawyers on set” following the bombshell scene.
9. Jay Manuel and Tyra stopped talking on the show
Following eight cycles on America’s Next Top Model, Jay Manuel noticed things had started to change within the show. He believed there was a version of him on the show that didn’t really represent him.
Manuel also said he didn’t always approve of how the contestants were treated on the show, which he said was “chipping away” at him.
“It was time to tell Tyra that I wanted to leave the show,” he said, stating he sent her an email before anyone else.
He waited “three long days” for her response, which read: “I am disappointed.”
After the email exchange, their communication suddenly stopped. Producers asked Manuel to return to the show for one more cycle. He was issued a warning if he didn’t, and felt he would be blacklisted from the industry.
Manuel agreed to the proposal. However, when he returned to work, Tyra ignored him off-camera. “She wouldn’t speak with me,” he said, explaining they “learned to laugh and play” on camera.
9. Nigel Barker, Miss Jay Alexander and Jay Manuel’s axe was ‘leaked’ to the press
In the doc, Tyra Banks said that she was told by the bosses above her that Nigel Barker, Miss Jay Alexander and Jay Manuel needed to be let go from the show.
While they were disappointed, they had agreed to announce the news via a joint press release, where each of them was to have their own quote and for them to say goodbye their way.
However, before they could even do so, a story “leaked” to Page Six that stated they had been fired.
Jay Manuel hit back, expressing: “There was no leak to Page Six. Anyone can see where that came from!”
“That’s the double slap, that’s the part you have to now live with,” he continued. Nigel insisted it was the “lowest point for me”.
Jay Manual added: “Why would you not allow the people who have been apart of your show in its inception to move forward in their career with grace? It gives people their dignity! It was very deliberate.”
He noted that he heard people on set saying the show needed “drama”. At the time, Jay Manuel revealed that no one could contractually speak much about the situation.
Tyra insisted she was forced to fire Nigel, Miss Jay and Jay Manuel, even though she believes they still think otherwise today.
10. Miss Jay Alexander suffered a stroke
Miss Jay Alexander revealed that he suffered a stroke in December 2022.
“I woke up, I didn’t know where I was, other than in the hospital. I spent five weeks in a coma and I couldn’t walk. And I couldn’t talk,” he explained.
Miss Jay said it was an “emotional” time for him and wasn’t ashamed to say he had cried a lot. His close friends Nigel and Jay Manuel came to visit.
In a clip where they all met up, Nigel said Miss Jay seemed better, stating that his speech had improved. While tearing up, the pair supported him. Known for teaching models how to walk, he has been unable to work.
When asked if Tyra had come to see him, he said, “No, not yet.” However, she had reached out via text.
11. Tyra Banks took very little accountability
Tyra has continued to face backlash from the America’s Next Top Model documentary after being accused of taking very little accountability.
When asked to address the Shandi situation, she, despite being the executive producer of the show, said it was down to production, which wasn’t her “territory,” and brushed it off.
She did admit to being in the wrong for forcing Dani Evans to get her gap closed and for how she handled the situation after Keenyah told her she was assaulted on set. However, viewers are disappointed she didn’t address much else that was discussed.
“Girl at this point #TyraBanks is EXACTLY who they say she is! You will never get me to believe otherwise! Everyone took accountability except her, she got more excuses than a [bleep] not paying his child support!” one user wrote on X.
“Ok so that Netflix show was really just 3 straight hours of Tyra Banks taking zero accountability for creating a show where she profited off the abuse and exploitation of young women for years. Got it,” another person shared.
“I don’t like how Tyra Banks is not actually taking any accountability for anything that happened on America’s Next Top Model,” a third remarked.
12. Tyra teased Cycle 25
In the America’s Next Top Model documentary, Tyra teased plans for the future.
Despite the huge controversy that surrounds the show, she made it seem the show had been picked up for another series, announcing, “You have no idea what we have planned for Cycle 25.”
That will be interesting…
