antm

Every Time ‘America’s Next Top Model’ Was Wildly Problematic

Tell us you love Punkee without telling us you love Punkee. Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. It'll mean the world.

When it comes to reality TV, few shows have been as iconic and controversial as America’s Next Top Model. Over its 24 seasons, ANTM delivered some of the most memorable moments in reality TV history.

But not all of those moments have been positive, and some of them have been downright shocking and would never make it past the cutting room floor in today’s world. And if they did, we have no doubt Tyra Banks would be dragged over hot coals and cancelled before you could say “smize”.

Not that the model and ANTM host hasn’t been called out for some of the show’s wildly inappropriate scenes. With the series’ final ever ep airing back in 2018, the show’s legacy had been irreparably tarnished as jaw-dropping clips of the reality show’s most controversial moments made the rounds on social media and continue to do so.

Tyra herself even referenced the messy choices back in 2020 in an appearance on The Tamron Hall Show, where she admitted that they “did a whole bunch of things that we did mess up.”

“I was trying to push boundaries but was also torn to try to make sure that these girls could work, so it was a balance,” she said. “It was like, ‘Oh, break beauty barriers,’ but yeah, I can break them all I want on the show, but they’ll graduate from the show, and they won’t work.”

From forcing contestants to undergo “biracial” makeovers in photoshoots to Tyra’s infamous “WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU” rant, join us as we take a stroll down memory lane…

The wildest and most shocking moments in America’s Next Top Model history:

1. When Tyra gave us meme gold for years to come by yelling at Tiffany (Cycle 4)

This is perhaps the most iconic moments in ANTM (and pop culture) history that continues to live on this very day. Tyra Banks famously yelled at contestant Tiffany Richardson for not taking the competition seriously.

As she was about to be eliminated from the competition, Tiffany, who had grown increasingly detached from the cutthroat comp, went to speak before getting the boot — and Tyra was NOT happy about it.

“Be quiet, Tiffany. Be quiet! What is wrong with you? STOP IT,” the supermodel shouted. “I have never in my life 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!”

“When you go to bed at night, you lay there and you take responsibility for yourself,” Banks continued. “Because nobody’s going to take responsibility for you. You rolling your eyes… it’s because you’ve heard it all before.”

She added, “You don’t know where the hell I come from. You have no idea what I’ve been through, but I’m not a victim. I grow from it and I learn. Take responsibility for yourself!”

Honestly, it was quite the speech.

While looking back on the scene is admittedly hilarious, many viewers felt that the way Tyra handled the situation at the time was inappropriate and that she was overly harsh. The moment has since become a meme, but still remains a controversial part of the show’s history.

Speaking with Buzzfeed about the wild scene in late 2016, Tiff described the whole experience as “weird”. And fair call, tbh.

“I would not take anything from her career… but she’s a human,” Tiffany shared. “I went into it thinking Tyra was f**king God. To actually see her and the vibe is completely different. It was just weird.”

When Tyra then spoke to the publication a year later, she admitted she “wouldn’t have aired” the now-famous rant.

“I wouldn’t have done it… Actually, maybe I wouldn’t have aired it,” she said. “It was such an emotional, visceral moment for me… I had so much love for this girl.”

2. When they made Kahlen pose in a grave after her friend died (Cycle 4)

In one of the darker moments in ANTM, Cycle 4 contestant Kahlen Rondot was made to be lowered into an eight-foot-deep grave for a seven deadly sins photoshoot literally one day after learning that her childhood friend had died in a car crash.

The photoshoot was obviously highly controversial, with many viewers feeling that it was insensitive and disrespectful (and rightfully so).

Honestly, watching the whole sad mess was traumatising for all of us viewing at home, so we can’t imagine how poor Kahlen felt at the time, but she did end up coming first in the photo call-out for the shoot, sooo it was all worth it, right???

3. When Tyra told Kim to tone down her gayness (Cycle 5)

In Cycle 5, openly gay contestant Kim Stolz revealed to the judges that she was “proud” to be a lesbian, only to be basically told to tone it down by Tyra.

“I’ve got a little more of a… I don’t want to say masculine, but a masculine look,” Kim told Tyra, Jay Manuel, and J. Alexander. “I want to be out. I’m gay and I’m really proud of it.”

Tyra shut her down immediately, saying, “I think there’s a certain thing about being proud. Like, I’m black and proud. But I’m not walking down the red carpet like, ‘I’m black, I’m black’.”

Judge Jay Manuel, who is gay and an LGBTQ rights advocate, later discussed the major ick moment with Variety, admitting it made him “uncomfortable”.

“I remember feeling a little uncomfortable with the statement,” he said. “I could see Tyra trying to draw the parallel and what she was trying to illustrate, and I was confused by it because we ask these girls to come in the room and the producers remind the girls before they come in, ‘Tell them who you are. You’re not just a pretty face. You have to have a discussion about who you are.’”

“These girls are coached to speak their truth and tell Tyra who they are, and then Tyra said that, so it seemed a bit unfair. You can see it on that model’s face, like, ‘Wait a minute, I was told to say everything about myself, and now you’re telling me to not say this?'”

Major yikes all ’round, tbh.

4. When they tried to make Danielle fix the gap in her tooth (Cycle 6)

When a clip from the 2006 episode of the reality show resurfaced of cycle six winner Danielle Evans being encouraged to undergo dental work to fix a gap in her teeth because it “was not marketable”, Tyra incurred the wrath of social media.

“Do you really think you can have a CoverGirl contract with a gap in your mouth?” the ANTM creator and executive producer told Dani at the time when she refused the dental treatment to close her gap.

To make matters worse, just cycles later, Tyra actually had a contestant create a gap in her teeth.

Dani addressed the incident years later in a video posted to Instagram in 2020, where she spoke her truth about the shocking moment while relaying a sweet message to all the young girls out there.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Dani Evans (@danievans1)


“You’re beautiful…it doesn’t matter if you have a gap, stacked teeth, straight teeth. It doesn’t matter if you’re black, brown, white, indifferent, other. It doesn’t matter. What makes you beautiful is [on the inside]. It’s a matter of your self-worth … You are so loved, so adored, and you are beautiful.” We cannot help but stan!

Meanwhile, Tyra later apologised for the statement.

“I had model agents here saying, ‘These three girls could really, really work, but this must change,’ so there was a whole behind-the-scenes thing happening,” she said. “Instead of me saying, ‘You must change this,’ on TV, I think what I should have said is, ‘You’re beautiful.’”

5. The treatment of transgender contestant Isis King (Cycle 11)

Isis King was the first transgender contestant on ANTM, and her time on the show was marred by controversy.

She was ridiculed and bullied by some of the other contestants, and was often singled out for being transgender. Many viewers felt that the way she was treated was unacceptable and that the show should have done more to protect her.

Years later, Isis, who is now a successful actress, spoke to Hello! about how her experience on the reality show made her stronger.

“As hurtful as so much of that was to watch for me back then, if I was to change any of that back then, I might not have had the strength I needed 14 years later to be who I am now,” she revealed.

“I had to go through that unfortunately but it helped push the conversation forward on a global scale. That is a moment in history and it all started with me believing in myself and following my heart.”

Good for her!

6. THAT Biracial Photoshoot (Cycle 13)

In Cycle 13, the models were asked to pose for a photoshoot that saw them take on biracial ethniticites, and yes, it’s exactly as bad as you’d imagine.

The photoshoot quickly became controversial, with some viewers feeling that it perpetuated harmful stereotypes about mixed-race people, while others called it out for being straight-up blackface — which, let’s be real, it totally was.

After the ep aired, Tyra took to her show to attempt to explain her thoughts behind the mind-boggling idea.

“What we thought was a celebration turned out to be… very negative in some of the press and a lot of them were even saying that it was a form of racism. A lot of them went so far as to accuse me and Top Model of putting the girls in blackface.”

She then explained that the shoot was inspired by the Hawaiian word Hapa, which she explained “is when men and women of different cultures come together and they create racially-mixed babies.”

“I want to be very clear: I, in no way, put my Top Models in blackface,” she said. “I’m a black woman. I am proud. I love my people and the struggle that we have gone through continues and the last thing that I would ever do is be a part of something that degraded my race.”

She then went on to apologise for the extremely tone-deaf shoot.

“I’m sorry to anybody that watched Top Model and was offended by the pictures because they didn’t understand the real story behind them, or even if you did see the whole episode and you were still offended, I truly apologise because that is not my intention,” she said.

“My intention is to spread beauty and break down barriers.” Quite the non-apology we reckon, but rightio.