Tyra Banks AddressesAmerica’s Next Top ModelBacklash in Speech: ‘Did We Get It Right? Hell No.I Said Some Dumb S---’

Mar. 15, 2025

Tyra Banks at the ESSENCE Women in Hollywood Awards on Feb, 27, 2025.Photo:Robin L Marshall/Getty

Robin L Marshall/Getty

Tyra Banksaddressed some longstanding criticism ofAmerica’s Next Top Model— and she made it clear that she firmly believes the show’s legacy is one of diversity and inclusion.

On Feb. 27 in Los Angeles, Banks attended the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards, where she was the first-ever Luminary Spotlight honoree. During her acceptance speech, the runway modeling star admitted that she didn’t always get everything right during the show’s 24 seasons. However, she said that she was fighting hard for onscreen diversity well before it was a topic that others were talking about.

“Over 20 years ago I created a show calledAmerica’s Next Top Model,” Banks, 51, began. “And you guys have no idea how hard we fought to bring the diversity to that television show at a time when it didn’t exist; to show different beauties at a time when the world was like, ‘What? You casting that?’ A time when people in the fashion industry were telling me, ‘You putting the girls from thehoodon your show?’ “

“I was like, ‘Why can the girl from the trailer park become a supermodel but the girl that’s chilin’ in the park in the hood can’t?’ “ she continued. “And we fought and we struggled and we made it happen.”

Tyra Banks at the ESSENCE Women in Hollywood Awards on Feb, 27, 2025.Robin L Marshall/Getty

She then seemed to address the backlash to the show — which premiered on UPN in 2003 — that emerged in recent years.

Several old clips from the series began surfacing online in 2020, which prompted a wave of negative feedback directed at both Banks and the show’s creative team. One clip showed Banks telling a contestant that she should “fix” a gap in her teeth, while another featured a now-controversial“race swapping” challengein which some contestants modeled in “black face.”

Twiggy, J. Alexander, Tyra Banks and Nigel Barker on ‘America’s Next Top Model,’ season 5.Michael Yarish/CBS Photo Archive/Getty

Michael Yarish/CBS Photo Archive/Getty

Banks addressed the backlash on Twitter (now X) at the time, writing, “Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you. Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs,” perCNN.

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Banks attended the recent ESSENCE event alongside a number of notable other celebs, includingCynthia Erivo,Gabourey Sidibe,Yvette Nicole Brown,Tia Mowryand more.

source: people.com