It wasn’t all sunshine and smizes on America’s Subsequent Prime Mannequin. In keeping with an exposé from Insider printed on Monday, the setting fostered by Prime Mannequin host and govt producer Tyra Banks and her fellow producers was, within the phrases of 1 contestant, tantamount to “psychological warfare.”
The Insider story, written by Kate Taylor, recounted that Banks and fellow producers, together with ANTM creator Ken Mok, exploited contestants emotionally and bodily on the extraordinarily well-liked actuality competitors collection—which ran for twenty-four seasons from 2003 to 2018. The abuse, as reported by Insider, included however was not restricted to producers mentioning contestants’ previous traumas as a way to play on their feelings, in addition to deliberately creating harmful work environments so as to add to the drama. One contestant, season seven’s Eugenia Washington, remembers strolling a runway that consisted of a path of wood planks seesawing in a pool whereas carrying 6-inch heels, a pencil skirt, and two corsets. In keeping with the story, Washington fell and cracked her knee to keep away from falling into the water. Sixteen years later, she mentioned she nonetheless has seen scars from the incident.
“I felt like my life was being placed on the road for scores,” Washington advised Insider. Contestants on ANTM signed contracts saying that the present was not liable for any accidents sustained whereas on this system.
The Insider story goes on to recount extra horror tales about accidents fashions incurred whereas on the present, lots of which occurred whereas present process “Ty-Overs”—obligatory makeovers orchestrated by Banks—that typically left contestants with welts, burns, and bald spots. One contestant, season 12’s Aminat Ayinde, made her stylist conscious that she was allergic to relaxers, salon-grade chemical substances used to straighten curly hair; she was compelled to proceed with the makeover anyway. “That is what Tyra desires—that is how we now have to do it,” Ayinde recalled the stylist saying. After she got here in third place, Ayinde says she eliminated her extensions and located a 2-inch bald spot. She mentioned it took three years for her hair to develop again.
“That is after I understood: Tyra does not give a fuck,” Ayinde advised Insider. “The entire thing actually left probably the most disgusting style in my mouth,” Ayinde mentioned. “And actually, I misplaced all respect [for Banks].”
Taylor’s Insider story paints Banks as a deeply engaged host and govt producer who had a 25% stake in America’s Subsequent Prime Mannequin and infrequently labored extra time to get a ultimate product that was as much as her requirements. “She wished to be the subsequent Oprah,” recalled one producer who labored on America’s Subsequent Prime Mannequin in its early years.
However, per Insider‘s story, Banks’s dedication to the present was usually to the detriment of its contestants. Banks obsession with the present led to more and more harmful and outlandish challenges, Insider posits, noting that producers mentioned that the supermodel “abhorred repetition” and was continuously attempting to outdo the earlier season. In an anecdote from ANTM artistic director Andrew Patterson, Banks allegedly struck a cope with the Greek tourism board to take the contestants to Crete and have them pose in a “Greek Salad” impressed photograph shoot coated in oil. “They regarded fairly good,” Patterson recalled. “Besides I believe we used oil, and the women ended up frying just a little within the solar.”
Renewed scrutiny of the collection started within the pandemic and erupted when a viral tweet from former contestant Sarah Hartshorne revealed that contestants acquired solely a day by day per diem of $40 {dollars} and weren’t paid to seem on this system and didn’t obtain any residuals. Earlier than Harstshorne’s tweet, Banks tweeted a blanket apology for what transpired on America’s Subsequent Prime Mannequin in Might 2020. “Been seeing the posts in regards to the insensitivity of some previous ANTM moments and I agree with you,” Banks tweeted. “Trying again, these have been some actually off selections.”
Supply: Glamour
