Original subtitles

[tense music playing]

[church bells tolling]

-[models] Hi. -[men] Hi.

[chatter in Italian]

Shandi. Shandi.

[model] We got one in the tub.

[Shandi] I was hammered. I think I had two bottles of wine by myself.

I just remember, like, little bits and pieces.

[shower starting]

I remember being in the shower, and then just sitting in the shower,

and then we were in the bed.

I was blacked out for a lot of it.

I didn't even feel sex happening. I just knew it was happening.

And then I've… passed out.

The next day, I woke up and was like, "Holy shit."

"What the fuck happened last night?"

[inhales deeply]

[sighing] Fuck.

It all fucking hit me. It just flooded over me.

-[crying] -And I just sat there and cried.

[crying] I wanna die.

[model] It's over.

It's over.

It's over.

You don't let this take away your spirit.

[contemplative music playing]

[producer] Do you think that the production should have stopped it?

[exhales deeply]

[sniffling] I think when, like…

[exhales deeply]

I think after getting out of the hot tub and whatever happened after that,

I think they should have fucking, like,

been like, "All right, this has gone too far. Like, we got to…

we got to pull her out of this." [sniffles]

[producer] Do you remember the story with Shandi?

Um...

Uh, I do remember her story.

It's a little difficult for me to talk about production

because I'm… that's not my territory.

[producer] Was there ever a sense of like, "Hey, we need to turn the cameras off?"

You know, we treated Top Model as a documentary.

And we told the girls that.

On day one, when they'd show up, we would go over the rules with them.

There's gonna be cameras with you 24/7, day in and day out,

and they're going to cover everything, the good, the bad,

and everything in between.

No matter what happens, while you're on camera,

we're going to document all of that.

I know the girls, they were doing their "evening hanging with the guys."

We were off, and then we got "word."

Shandi's having sex in the shower with a guy.

I was like, "Wait, what?"

And the rule on Top Model was,

if you went into a bathroom alone, a camera could not follow you in.

But when she went into the shower, she was technically not alone.

So the cameras went in, and they captured it.

I don't know whose decision it was, but as producers do,

this was a story point now, and we're gonna see it all the way through.

[narrator] Here's what's coming up on America's Next Top Model.

A visit from some local Italian men leads to a devastating crisis for Shandi.

I was about 12 when I saw Cycle 2.

To see that level of drama on Top Model as a kid, I was scandalized.

[woman 1] She just cheated her ass off on national television.

Shandi cheats on her boyfriend, and she has to call. I can't stand it!

[woman 2] Why is this not a private moment? Why is this filmed?

This is wrong, but while saying that, let's continue watching.

Looking back with an adult lens, it's really disturbing.

How are you?

[Zakiya] The next day, Tyra has a girls' talk,

and it is not a coincidence that she starts talking about cheating.

I had one guy that cheated on me in Milano.

He was a male model, child, and that just hurt me so much.

But now I always tell my man, like, "Don't cheat."

"Flirt so much with the girl, and then come home and do me."

-[models laugh] -Mm-hmm.

[Zakiya] Of course she's gonna have producers in her ear.

She is going to be kept aware of what… the goings-on in the house,

and she comes in and stokes the fire

under the guise of concerned big sis or mentor.

Like, "This is a girls talk."

You okay?

[dramatic music playing]

You cheated on him?

Yeah? Everybody's messed up, Shandi.

[inaudible]

I'm not judging you.

But I think that we have to fight against our carnal desires.

I understand that people do become attracted to other people.

And it's all about your relationship and how open your relationship is

and how honest you can be with one another.

After everything, I just want to go home.

[exhales deeply]

After that happened, I kept demanding.

I wanna go home. I don't want to be a part of this anymore.

And I demanded to, like, talk to Eric, but they wouldn't give me a phone.

And that's when I really wanted to go home.

They tried to talk me out of it, and I was like, "No."

And they're like, "Well...

Now we can get you a phone."

[scoffs]

It was like things became convenient when they needed to be convenient.

-[music stops] -[sniffling]

Because before I'd wanted a phone, but now that I don't wanna do the show,

now a phone is available for me to call Eric.

And they're like, "Well, we're going to have to film it.

And I was like, "Well, fine."

[tense music playing]

I just want to let my boyfriend know what happened. But I'm so scared.

[Shandi crying]

[Eric] Just please tell me what you did. Just tell me.

[Shandi] Just think of the worst possible thing I could do.

[Eric] You had sex?

[sniffling]

-Yeah. -[Eric] Oh my God, honey.

[Shandi sobbing] Please don't get mad.

[Eric] I can't be with someone that cheated on me.

[Shandi] Oh God.

[Eric] What do you want me to do? What can I say to this? How can I hug you?

You think about how we wanted to be together forever.

And then you throw it away. You stupid bitch.

[Shandi crying]

[Eric] Why did you do this?

[Shandi and Eric crying]

[dramatic music playing]

It was just the sound guy and the guy filming, and…

Afterwards, I'm just, like, laying on the floor

in a fetal position, just crying, and they just,

like, get up to leave. And they both came up to me and they said,

"We're really, really sorry that we had to film that."

They just knew that this isn't right. Like, why are we filming this?

[sniffling]

[Shandi crying]

[Jay] After that, I believe, did they show it on camera?

They took her to the doctor.

I mean, production was responsible for her.

Now, could they have sent her to the doctor in privacy?

But it's "reality," so now we're gonna cover it. Poor girl.

[Shandi] After I talked to Eric again on the phone,

they actually filmed me talking to the guy and asking him myself,

"Did you wear any protection? Do you have any STDs?"

Like, I felt like… [sniffles]

"Why can't you just ask them yourself? Why do you have to film this?"

[sniffles]

Like, you already got me on the phone of Eric calling me a fucking bitch.

[Ken] I will tell you this.

When I went into post and saw the footage,

we scaled back that scene...

in a significant way.

I'm not head of story, that's Ken Mok,

but I did become a master editor.

It's important for people to know that we didn't put everything on TV.

[Jay] Do you know what happened?

Super Bowl, Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake.

When that happened,

regulations clamped down on what you could show.

So then they had to rush, re-edit that scene.

[Ken] That was, for good or bad, one of the most memorable moments in Top Model.

Made for good TV.

[music fades]

[dramatic sting]

[energetic music playing]

Everybody out here wants to be America's Next Top Model.

[all yelling]

Another week, another elimination on America's Next Top Model.

America's Next Top Model.

Gotta watch America's Next Top Model. We're just flabbergasted.

[Kunal Nayyar] Transfixed.

[narrator] We now return to America's Next Top Model.

I just don't think you're being fair, Tyra.

The end of season two, I knew this was it.

People's appetites were insatiable. They couldn't get enough.

Every week it was growing.

Did you like it?

-Well, it was… It's hard not to watch. -[laughs]

What happened really surprised me.

Dawn Ostroff said, "We want to do two cycles a season, every year."

I'm like, "What?"

That was a moment where I realized that we had broken through.

[woman mimicking Tyra] Kaiceey, Kahlua, Amber, who will become

America's Next Top Model?

[laughter, applause]

[upbeat music playing]

[Jay] The show was really kind of gaining popularity,

but that didn't feel like it had reached,

you know, kind of the masses, right? But then...

randomly one evening, Tyra, J, and I went to dinner.

It was just the three of us, nobody else, but we were walking along,

and there were some kids on the street.

A girl, she said to her friend, "Oh my God, look. There's Beyoncé."

[Miss J] The girlfriend said, "No,

that's Tyra Banks because it's the J's."

And I said, "Oh, okay."

I looked over at J,

and J was like, "This is not going to sit well." [chuckles]

It was just a bit of an awkward moment.

This is "Tyra's show."

[Tyra] Jay Manuel and J. Alexander get recognized

more than me walking down the street in New York City. It's crazy.

I'm like, "Get back. You stealing my shot."

Things are different now.

[driving electronic music playing]

At one point, we had an audience of over 100 million people globally.

Our American show in 180 countries. It was massive.

And they were doing their own versions.

The winner of Africa's Next Top Model.

Germany's Next Top Model.

Mexico's Next Top Model.

Maureen!

[cheering]

It was quite a behemoth to be a part of.

[host] Miss J Alexander.

Tyra always said, "You're gonna be famous." And then boom.

-It happened. -[camera clicking]

We had words we said on America's Next Top Model

-that are now in the dictionary. -Smize.

The smize.

Smile with your eyes.

[Tyra] Smize.

[Shannon] The world was smizing.

[cameras clicking]

-The show was at an all-time high. -[narrator] America can't get enough.

I love America's Next Top Model.

I'd do almost anything to win.

We did a casting in New York City at Macy's.

[newscaster] 10,000 would-be cover girls turned out for their shot

at America's Next Top Model.

We shut down two city blocks in the middle of New York City.

[Ken] I remember looking at CNN and seeing this riot breaking out on the street.

[newscaster] Pandemonium broke out.

Girls were threatening to slash each other's faces.

All these girls were on the verge of passing out.

[newscaster] Model mayhem breaks out on a street in New York City.

That was a moment where I realized, "My God, I think we've built a monster."

[music fades out]

[Dawn] As the cycles went on, there was a lot of pressure to figure out

how to constantly reinvent.

How do you get that "I can't believe they're doing that" moment again?

-[Sherri Shepherd] Oh! Oh! Oh no! -[Whoopi Goldberg laughing]

[continues laughing]

Oh no. You know…

You have to keep one-upping yourself.

[Jay] Now the pressure was high for the network.

How do we maintain this and grow this audience?

[indistinct]

[Tyra] It was a time in the world where there was shows Fear Factor and Survivor

and all of these things of, like, pushing the limits and all of that.

And so we kept pushing and we kept creating more and more.

You guys were demanding it.

The viewers wanted more and more and more.

Reality TV is a bitch.

If it doesn't bleed and lead, then it doesn't work.

[techno music playing]

We are going to suspend you from this ledge

and shoot you guys hanging over this hole.

Creatively now for the photo shoots, there were so many cooks in the kitchen.

So things changed.

[yelling] Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Your wardrobe today?

-[models exclaim] -[model] Flesh?

Jay Manuel tells us that we're going to be wearing dead animal carcasses.

Watching that is like mortifying on every level. Every level.

So I have to wear beef panties.

[gasps]

I don't even eat meat. I'm a vegan.

-[producer] No! -[laughing]

That was terrible. [laughs]

[Whitney speaking]

I do feel like I can feel and taste what people want to see.

-Hello. -Hi!

[Tyra] I feel like I kind of know.

I'm so sorry, you guys. I don't mean to be weak in front of you,

but I'm just so lightheaded.

[gasping and yelling]

-No, Tyra. -Take her pulse.

I'm okay.

[shouting] Today you guys are gonna learn about acting!

[indistinct chatter]

Inappropriate and awkward and funny as hell.

I have a pigeon on my head.

Yes you do, but they all look toilet-trained. Don't worry.

[squeals, laughs]

[model] Pigeons are flying rats. They eat rats.

They'd probably eat me if they could.

Why are we doing that? Why are we doing that?

This has to be the funniest challenge ever.

With each passing season of ANTM, the challenges got crazier and crazier.

[screaming]

Pure chaos. [laughs]

I just want to tell you that some people have war in their countries.

[Zakiya] I feel like they would take the girls' fears

and then turn it into a photo shoot.

[screaming]

They were posing with tarantulas, cockroaches,

walking in ten-inch-high stilettos.

They had to walk on water.

So they had to, like, pull off Jesus feats. [laughing]

We cannot forget when they pretended to be homeless,

inspired by Tyra's stint as a homeless person for a day.

They had the girls pose with real unhoused people in the background.

[judge] This is one of my favorite pictures

'cause I think your face is just so heartbreaking.

It looks stunning.

There were some ideas that were wrong and were not good to have and were silly,

you know, quite frankly.

For some reason, no one really seemed to see it.

Yeah, there's some dumb shit. I mean, dumb. I'm like, "What the hell?"

Sometimes, creative would come up where you're just like,

"Oof, wow, okay, well, we got to work with this now."

Today, we're actually going to do a photo shoot

about the horrible impacts of smoking.

This is hideous.

[chuckling]

I don't know how we ended up there, but it's crazy.

[producer] Do you remember outrageous moments

that you were thinking to yourself,

"Okay, like, can we air it?"

No, I never thought about, you know, can we air it, can't we air it.

Good television is good television.

[Jay] We're going to bring you some little fish and some seaweed.

[model] We have dead fish attached to us.

-[Nigel] How's it smell, Danielle? -I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

Absurd. Absolutely absurd.

[gagging]

Fish juice.

Fish juice? Work with it, girl.

This is not real modeling, right?

And after that, it was just a fucking free-for-all.

[dramatic music playing]

I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas.

We were in this little three-bedroom home with black mold and roaches,

and all the things that I wanted seemed unattainable.

When I graduated high school, I knew I wanted to model in New York.

My brother, he was like, "You should do America's Next Top Model."

I was like, "I would fucking never." He was like, "Why?"

I was like, "It's fake modeling. They humiliate girls on that show."

He was like, "Girl, this could be a ticket, a free ticket out."

"We don't have money to get you to New York."

Top Model was a one-way ticket for me to get out of my hometown.

If I get on this show, I'm out.

[music continues]

First name that I'm gonna call,

Joanie.

[Joanie] When they called my name, I was like,

"Oh my gosh, yes! I'm on this show."

Like, I can't believe it. It's gonna happen. I quit my job.

[laughing]

I worked at American Eagle in the mall.

And I went in, and I told my boss, I'm like,

"I really can't tell you what's happening, but I'm on a TV show, and I have to quit."

It felt so good to be like, "I quit. I'm moving on."

[Tyra] Next name. Danielle.

[laughter]

Thank you so much.

This is the moment I've been waiting for my entire life.

It was that moment of, like, pinch me, like, girl, you did it.

You got out.

You actually got out of Little Rock. Now you got to keep going.

But I had no idea how hard it would be.

[traffic sounds]

You are now standing in the building of one of the most influential ad agencies.

You're gonna have the opportunity to meet

the most sought-after creative director in the world as well.

I see you got a nice little gap right there between your teeth.

Thank you.

Even though I said thank you, I'm like, I think she bad-mouthing me.

As far as my gap, she can hang that one up.

The gap is staying, sucker.

The gap. The infamous gap. Lord Jesus. [laughing]

Today we're dealing with perfection and beauty.

So Tyra has an extra-special treat for you guys.

That day, after the challenge, they put us in a group

and they said that we were going to the dentist.

But that Joanie and I were going first.

[Jay] The dentist is gonna do something about that snaggle tooth

and for that gap too and perfect your smile.

I was like, "Whoa, this is actually happening."

Happy, right? They're tears of joy.

Whoo-hoo!

-That's so cool. -Aw.

I could never afford anything like that.

It was like winning the lottery. It was like, "I'm down to do it."

Because I was always really self-conscious about my teeth.

I'm like, "Okay, let's go."

[Zakiya] I feel like up until that point,

a lot of the makeovers were very based on hair.

That was the first time you see the girls going to a doctor's office

to get a medical procedure as part of a makeover.

[Dani] So we pull up to the dentist,

and the guy keeps asking me

if I want to get anything done to my teeth.

So, is there anything you don't like about your smile?

My gums are receding up here on my front tooth.

-What about the gap? -Oh, I love my gap.

The gap, I love the gap.

The signature gap is staying in my mouth. That's who I am.

I said, "I don't wanna close my gap."

That's not your right to tell me what to do with my body.

And poor Joanie. Oh my God, Joanie.

The shit that girl went through, horrific.

[tense music playing]

-We will remove these four. -[Joanie] Today?

-We'll remove them today. -[Joanie] Oh.

I was young and kind of just along for the ride,

but I had to sign a separate release right then and there too.

Couldn't talk to my mom about it.

Couldn't call a lawyer or anything like that.

[pensive music playing]

I didn't know it would go all night.

[groaning]

That was really intense, what Joanie went through.

Oh Lord.

Insane.

I have them, actually. Here they are.

This one used to be right here.

Oh, girl.

[Joanie] But yeah, they pulled these all out of my mouth,

and then they shaved from here to here.

[music continues building]

She was in the dentist's office for hours on end.

Oh my God. There were gobsmacked moments where you watch and you're like, "Oof."

"Okay."

I'm going to go have all my front teeth grinded down to pencil points.

[Ken] Oh my God.

I still remember her looking into the camera and saying,

-"Look at what they've done." -Look at my teeth.

It was insane.

-[music stops] -Bless her soul.

When it was over, I said, "Oh my God, she took out her teeth."

And… "Oh, it's fabulous though."

[Joanie] The next photo shoot that we did was actually the one where we were crying.

I was like, "I am in pain. This isn't hard."

I was so miserable.

Sometimes you have to go through pain, you know, to be beautiful.

[Tyra] Close your eyes in between and open.

-Nice, nice, nice! -[Nigel] Good.

[producer] Just for beauty?

Just for beauty. They did not fix anything.

There were many orthodontic problems that were never fixed.

I've still got a crazy bite issue, and those issues will never be resolved.

It was fucked up, but at the end of the day,

I was a grown adult woman with teeth I thought I would never fix,

so I felt like I won the lottery, really.

But Dani's work was pretty different.

[Tyra] So, Danielle, you went to the dentist,

but you refused to have your gap closed.

Do you really think you can have a CoverGirl contract with a gap?

Yeah, why not?

This is all people see. It's "Easy, breezy, beautiful CoverGirl."

It's not marketable.

I don't want to… completely close it.

Well, I guess she just left a gap wide open for another girl, baby.

I agree.

When Tyra called my name, she was like,

"So if I decide to keep you, are you going to get your gap closed?"

And then that's when I was like, "So what you're saying to me is,

if I don't get my gap closed, you're gonna send me home."

-You'll get them teeth done? -You want it all the way?

-Completely closed? -I think all the way.

Congratulations.

You're still in the running towards becoming America's Next Top Model.

And when I went back to the house, I called my mom immediately,

just because she was always my voice of reason, always.

And I was like, "This is what's happening. Like, what should I do?"

She said, "I'll be here to welcome you if you don't get your gap closed,

but you know you're gonna come home if you don't get your gap closed."

"Is it worth it," basically, is what my mom was saying.

There is no ifs, ands, and buts. There's no going home for me.

I did not come all the way from little bitty Little Rock, Arkansas,

to get turned around and go home. That's not an option.

And so I decided to

play the game, and I got my gap closed some.

[dramatic music playing]

It's my life, and it was toyed with… consciously.

And me saying no

and them going against that, it's invasive.

[drill whirring]

[Nigel] With Danielle and the gap between her teeth,

I myself was like, "I don't think that's a good idea."

I just thought she looked great with the gap between her teeth

and that perfection is boring.

Yet, not my decision, but it's the decision, you know?

I get suggesting it, but forcing it…

That is an insane thing for them to essentially demand from her.

It just shows how out of touch Tyra is.

[Zakiya] And the irony is that a few seasons later…

[Tyra] We love your teeth.

…Tyra was like, "We're going to widen that gap."

We'd love to exaggerate that and take you a little bit more to Lauren Hutton.

Make it as big as you want it. [laughs]

She already had a tooth gap, and then they surgically widened it. Permanently.

Getting that done for a reality competition TV show is just insane.

People have told me one season that she got a gap created in a girl's mouth.

Girl, that is absolutely ridiculous.

What?

I've actually apologized for the issue with Dani and what happened.

That was between a rock and a hard place for me.

Because there were agents that would tell me,

"She will not work with those teeth. It's just not going to happen."

That's what they told me.

And again, I could have just been quiet and let them handle it.

But that's… hindsight is 20/20 for all of us.

It just so happens that a lot of the things that are 20/20 for me

happened in front of the world.

Bull-fucking-shit.

Me getting my gap closed is not opening any doors for me.

You knew what you were doing for the show.

You were making good for TV at my expense.

[uneasy music playing]

It was great TV.

[Jay] I honestly thought Bre was gonna fall flat.

But also, like, we're people, and we're afraid.

And we're all too young to, like, to verbalize, "I'm scared."

[Zakiya] The girls were rewarded and applauded

for putting their health on the back burner.

Bravo!

[cheering]

It's a very dangerous situation.

And then a girl inevitably gets very sick.

And the show just milks it for TV drama.

-[Jay] We need a medic here, guys. -[model] Tell them it's an emergency.

[Zakiya] The cameras were always rolling.

[Dani] It was really scary.

[crying]

Oh, I might be dying.

[Zakiya] The models are very underfed and they're overworked.

They're not hydrated enough.

When you're modeling, you don't wanna eat 'cause you don't wanna be bloated.

I am so hungry, I think I'm gonna pass out.

[thudding]

-[model] Oh my God! -[judge] She passed out.

[model] Oh my God!

[crying, gagging]

She looked dead. Like, it was scary.

It was a crash course. [laughs]

It was a crash course.

I think I just pushed myself way past my limit.

[Ken] The biggest disaster ever is always the best thing.

People have 104-degree temperature. They're throwing up. They need IVs.

-That's the best news I could ever have. -[woman laughing]

Hypothermia in a pool. How does that happen?

They've accepted that, "Okay, my health is second to this competition."

I'm actually shocked that this was allowed to air.

-We can't get enough of the drama. -No.

It's a TV show to you guys, but this is my life.

[techno music playing]

We arrive at the Alexandria Hotel, and we go upstairs to the 12th floor.

You girls are all going to be crime scene victims.

Can you make that right hand look a little more kind of broken?

There you go.

They created these wild backstories.

My crime scene is Whitney stole all of my organs and then stitched me back up.

One was strangled to death. One was pushed off a high building.

Dionne was posing as if someone had shot her in the head.

[music stops]

When I was a kid, my mom was shot, and she was paralyzed from the waist down.

When I was 6 years old, my mom was shot by this guy.

He was jealous that she was getting married,

and she was actually trying to help him get off of drugs,

and he ended up shooting her. That's why Mom is paralyzed.

They knew about it from the application process,

but they still chose to have me do this particular photo shoot

that involved gun violence.

I thought it was a coincidence at the time, but I don't think it was.

Dionne took a little while to warm up and didn't take initiative to improvise.

I think they wanted to see some type of mental breakdown

or, you know, to see me crumble.

I'm just glad that they didn't get the reaction

that I feel like they were hoping to get.

[Nigel] It's a great picture. The look in your face is extraordinary.

I mean, very beautiful and dead.

[producer] Was there ever a moment in which you were like,

"Wow, this came out all wrong?"

Uh, no, funnily enough.

You know. I mean, I think now looking back, yes, I would say that.

But at the time, I really didn't think that.

[Jay] I love it because her ankle looks broken.

Looks like you're taking a nap. You need to look like you're brutally killed.

[Jay] Yeah.

I take full responsibility for that shoot. That was a mistake.

I look back now and I think it was a celebration of, like, violence.

It was crazy. That one, I look back and I'm like,

"You were an idiot."

[model] Tyra mail!

"The race is on. Be ready to show your true colors."

[Jay] The shoot that I had the most difficult time with was

this race-swapping shoot.

This week we've learned all about makeup

and the power that it has to transform people.

We are doing this shoot for Got Milk.

Now there's a twist.

My parents are from South Africa. They grew up during apartheid.

I'm very aware of that history.

And I just said, like, "Race swapping?" Wow. [scoff]

So I first asked to be excused from the photo shoot.

And Tyra said to me, "I will handle this on camera with the girls,

at judging, and da-da-da. Just go and do your job."

I recognized that my role was starting to have limitations.

That shoot was happening regardless.

We are actually going to switch your ethnicities.

The challenge here really is taking on the persona of…

If you really look for it, you can see it on my face.

Especially the setup for the day where I tell the girls what we're doing.

I could tell I was just, like, double swallowing and...

but I just had to do my job.

Tiffany, you're gonna be Native American.

-Brittany, an African American woman. -Ah!

Keenyah, Korean.

And Noelle, we're making you into a traditionally African woman

with a head wrap and everything.

[model] Wow.

Of course, you know, we can't always make it easy, easy, easy, right?

Oh God.

All you girls are going to have a little 3-year-old with you in your shot.

[model] Aww.

[Zakiya] So they're like cradling these, like, heavy, like, 3-year-olds…

He's sliding.

It's not about comfort. It's about the look.

…while they are essentially in blackface and brownface.

[Tyra] I didn't think it was controversial.

I was in my own little bubble, in my own little head.

This was my way of showing the world that brown and black is beautiful.

Sister, you look like a Black girl, girl. You like a…

I was feeling it as… Oh, I loved it.

[Tyra] But we put it out there,

and the world was like, "Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?"

[woman] What the fuck is that? They dead-ass did blackface.

What is the goal with this photo shoot? What is it?

It's hard to wrap your head around how this actually managed to get on the air.

I'm calling my best friend at commercial break like, "Girl, did you see that?"

What the hell is going on?

Did the industry make them do this?

Did the industry make them come up with this photo shoot?

What I don't hear a lot of people talking about really

is the fact that they did it again.

Erin, you're going to be Tibetan, like the Dalai Lama, and…

Egyptian?

Egyptian!

[model] All of us girls have to be painted and plastered with different colors.

I feel like I really looked exotic.

[Tyra] Brittani, you are going to be Native American and East Indian.

Looking at the show now through the 2020 lens,

it's an issue, and I understand 100% why.

Think about Egypt, the people, what they've been through.

[Zakiya] Tyra wants to challenge the fashion industry's ideals

around what is beauty,

but is also still upholding ideologies and attitudes

that oppressed her.

Much as I hate and preach about models not having to be stick-skinny,

we have to face it that we are in the fashion industry.

-[static] -Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

[tense music playing]

-Someone here is America's Next Top Model. -[cheering]

[Tyra] I'm looking for girls that are beautiful on the outside,

but I'm looking for the beauty on the inside.

I just felt like I could do this. I can do this.

Really just kind of do weights and measures.

[model] Miss J is here to take our measurements.

Oh, shoot! [laughs]

I had, up until that point,

only been made fun of for being really thin.

See who is toned and who's considered fat and who thinks they're fat.

[Keenyah] In school, I was bullied for being slim, tall, and braces and glasses.

I wasn't curvy and all the things that a lot of the other girls were.

You're almost shaped like a boy minus the breasts.

Thanks!

So to go into this world where now my weight is an issue

was really confusing for me.

We've got lust, sloth, gluttony, envy.

[Keenyah] We did the seven deadly sins, and they gave me gluttony.

It was just like gluttony, like, Aah! I'm greedy. I'm hungry. Like, rawr!

I thought, "Seven deadly sins. I'm gonna make this casket work."

I got to make it work.

[Jay] Don't hold your tummy like you're pregnant.

I didn't think anything of it. I just wanted to go with it.

I knew that it was a quirky show,

I just had to make it work and make it fabulous.

[camera clicking]

[judge] Gluttony looks like dumpy.

It's like piggy chic.

I don't think you look like a model.

I'd have liked to see the donut hanging out your mouth.

[Keenyah] In hindsight, it's just like

they had to find something as a part of the narrative.

And so by the time we got to Africa,

we had to model and be different animals.

-[Jay] You're going to be a giraffe. -A giraffe!

[Jay] You're going to be an ostrich. A cheetah!

A cheetah!

[Jay] Keenyah, you get to be the elephant.

-I don't know how we all fit in here. -[laughing]

One week it's gluttony. Next week it's an elephant.

Right.

That's when I knew. Okay, this is intentional.

[Tyra] The stomach is exposed to the highest extent.

It's bloated, and it doesn't look good at all.

[Keenyah] I have to just try to suck it in and work it.

[Tyra] This photo is really beautiful, but I hate to say it.

They had to do a lot of body work on you in retouching.

If you're sporting a gut, then you turn to the side and disguise it.

[Tyra] I'd love to change the rules, but until that happens,

I think it's all about choices.

You can get a burger and take the bread off.

-I make it work when I have to. -Thank you.

[Keenyah] To see that that was going to be my entire narrative,

it just felt unfair and just felt kind of dirty.

Keenyah needs to lose weight.

Keenyah needs to lose weight. Keenyah needs to lose weight.

Keenyah, she has gained about ten pounds.

The girl can snack like no other.

[model] I don't think Keenyah's watching what she eats.

That's what the judges keep telling her. That's what they keep complaining about.

And I really don't see that much progress.

It was a little bit damaging to see them editing me eating

the same bagel, for example,

showing me eating it as if I've eaten three different bagels,

but it really was the same one.

[music stops]

Keenyah gained a little weight. You can see that, no?

Yeah.

[Jay] She should be careful of that. Just try and pull it in a little more.

[camera clicking]

It was definitely hard to see that maybe when I was just enjoying myself,

having no idea that the cameras were really zooming in on certain areas,

it definitely was a little bit damaging to watch with all of America

to see that narrative play out.

[Tyra] When it comes to weight…

[dramatic drumming]

...back then the fashion industry's beauty standards were so narrow.

That's the world that we lived in.

[Zakiya] Tyra has also been criticized

for her body, for her weight,

for her body type, being curvy.

[Tyra] To all of you that have something nasty to say about me

or other women that are built like me, kiss my fat ass!

[cheering]

[Zakiya] And yet she's perpetuating this same message

onto these women and fat shaming them.

[Tyra] Keenyah, when we look at you, we don't see a model.

And as much as I hate and preach about models not having to be stick-skinny,

we have to face it that we are in the fashion industry.

If you don't fit the clothes, you don't work.

She's just real thin. I love it.

-[Miss J] What are you eating? -[model] Um... I have gained a little bit.

[Miss J] As a model, it's your job to maintain your size.

Okay.

Someone who's a size 6 is a plus size. It's like, no, come on. She's not fat.

There was a lot of that. There was a lot of body-shaming.

But then again, we have to remember, this is 25 years ago.

We were different back then.

I feel like her body type isn't plus-size and it isn't model-size.

I think that she should gain weight and become a plus-size model.

Were there eating disorders on the show? Yes. Yes, there were.

You want to do anything you can to get to the next round.

Anything you can.

Has she gained a lot of weight?

It just really shocked me today.

I'm seeing such a huge change physically.

I know people say it was irresponsible to have these discussions,

but they were very relevant to the time.

I think there was a very difficult balance to strike.

[Whitney] A lot of the girls developed some really unhealthy habits.

Is that your lunch? That's all you're eating?

I'm a big fat ass.

You're gonna get sick if you eat like that.

[Whitney] It was very common to live on Diet Coke and cigarettes.

It was like the Karl Lagerfeld Chanel diet.

Look at this waist. You have the smallest waist in the world.

There's something about her that I like.

When the only people you saw didn't look like you…

Plus-size modeling did not exist. I mean, that wasn't even a thing.

My name is Whitney. I'm from Atlantic Beach, Florida.

[intriguing music playing]

I represent a healthy American woman,

which should be the ideal American woman.

When we started filming, I was a size 6.

I was 5'10" and weighed 115 pounds.

I thought that I looked good, and then you go on TV

and then you're like, "Oh shit. Uhh, maybe not."

-Okay. -I got it.

-How does that look? -Really good.

-It's perfect. -I look skinny?

It was a big juxtaposition to go into this fashion world where people are like,

"Oh my God, you're such a fat cow."

This is a size 10. A size 10 we won't use for the runway.

So usually runway is two.

-I completely… -Yeah.

It's definitely frustrating

'cause obviously I'm discriminated against because I'm not a size two.

[pensive music playing]

Filming with a bunch of other size 00 models,

I suddenly felt a lot more self-conscious.

♪ I want to get fat like you ♪

Perhaps you meant P-H-A-T.

I would go to set and they would have nothing that would fit me.

They would have to cut open the back and clamp it.

I don't know if they're really prepared for my size

because these are sample sizes, and sample sizes are size 2,

and I'm not size 2.

It just makes you feel like shit to not be the right size.

It was just demeaning.

But there was a model named Toccara who was on previously,

and she went to set, they didn't have clothes that fit her,

and she kind of, you know, let them know how she felt about that.

You can't find something in my size, so I'm supposed to feel bad…

-[stylist] Fine… -You have to start trying.

[stylist] You're taking everything as a negative.

I don't think you realize how this whole modeling thing works.

[Whitney] And she got cut that week.

They could easily have gotten clothes that were my size,

but that was a choice that they made, and I dealt with that as well as I could

because if they see weakness, you're gone.

[music stops]

I later found out that there are women who developed eating disorders

from comparing themselves to what I was looking like

and what the judges were saying.

[tense music building]

[Keenyah] Tyra tells me, "You know what? This picture is beautiful,

but we had to retouch the heck out of your stomach."

This one clip was enough to spiral my disordered eating

into an ED for decades.

I remember when I was a kid back then,

and I would watch shows like America's Next Top Model,

and you would basically see Tyra Banks telling women

how their bodies are not acceptable.

And they were tiny as hell too, like skinny, petite girls…

[woman 1] It just blows my mind because look how petite this woman is.

[woman 2] I don't want to fat shame anybody but she looks like a whale.

You know the kind of psychological damage that does on a bitch?

It showed me a lot of things that weren't "I am beautiful" when I was younger.

[music stops]

I think there's some level of responsibility to the viewer,

knowing there are so many young women watching this show.

There's an insensitivity towards what it would do for their self-confidence.

I wish I could say shaming my body was the end of it,

but the production didn't stop there.

[dramatic music playing]

[Keenyah] In South Africa, we're down to the last girls.

I can feel that I could possibly win this show.

On today's shoot, you're gonna be dancing with three hot guys.

I remember getting on set, and, like, one of the male models, Bertini,

was very aggressively hitting on me.

[Keenyah] Uh-huh.

Bertini is a very interesting person.

Before we go on to the shoot, like, he's very, very flirty.

I don't have one.

It was very awkward.

Keenyah, he wants a massage from you.

On set, no one's really paying much attention to it at all.

I have to pretty much fend for myself.

A little space now. I gotta… I've got to work this out.

-You couldn't just… -Creating space.

[photographer] Okay, guys, get in close. Music.

[Keenyah] The male models were supposed to dance around us.

Mind you, they all have just this teeny, tiny little piece of loincloth

covering their members, and Bertini was, like, touching me, grabbing me.

I really felt that he was just taking advantage of the moment to touch me.

I remember thinking to myself,

"What would Tyra do in this situation?"

Tyra would politely and professionally stop the shoot

and let everyone know that she feels a little uncomfortable.

So that's exactly what I did.

[Jay] What's the issue?

I know it's not about feeling comfortable,

but to hear him moaning at me just threw me off.

[Jay] Moaning where?

Like, on me. Like, I'm sorry. I just didn't feel comfortable.

I didn't get the response I thought I was going to get.

The looks on their faces were just like, "How dare you stop our production?"

We're here in a professional situation. There are 50 of us here on set.

Right, right.

We're going with the flow.

[drumming]

[Keenyah] To be on a TV set in front of so many people

and still not be protected is… is, uh… is some pretty dark stuff.

There was a line that I feel was crossed.

And I hope that doesn't come out in my picture when I go to panel.

[music continues]

Thank you.

[Tyra] Welcome, ladies.

[all] Hi.

Now it's time to make our eleventh cut, which will bring us…

I recall that that judging panel,

there was a real discussion around what happened.

Keenyah, here is your best shot.

[Jay] It's a good shot. It's not a slamming shot.

-[Tyra] I would've liked to see more neck. -[Jay] Yeah, more neck, more movement.

The thing is that this male model, Bertini…

[over recording] …he was flirting with me. He was grinding on me. I felt...

Wait, can we stop it?

[chuckles]

The fact that the photo that was chosen

is a photo of Bertini literally grabbing my legs.

Are we going to really choose the shot where he's grabbing her in the shot?

I mean, the receipts are right there.

[pensive music playing]

It's wild that that got past however many people it got past.

There has to be a way you can handle it. You have to be able to be in control.

[scoffs]

Some of those things are also kind of the reality of the world.

Unfortunately, in the fashion industry,

there's always been a lot of issues with, you know, sort of harassment

in every sort of shape or way,

whether you're a male model or a female model, actually.

Not everyone is gonna handle the same situation in the same way.

But you as an individual should be able to stand up for yourself and say,

"No, this isn't working," or, you know, figure it out and just get the job done.

There's people and cameras everywhere.

With your feminine wiles, "Boy, you best back up

before I knock you upside the head."

But you do it in a fun way where he knows to back the heck up,

but it doesn't put static in the air because then it makes you uncomfortable.

I was trying to empower her with the information that I had.

To say, "Tell him to back up and da-da-da, and don't be messing up my sh--"

You know, that's kind of what I was saying, not verbatim,

because I felt like that was empowering her based on the information that I had.

I thought that was the best advice, but it should have been stomped down.

-[music stops] -And that's what would happen today.

We now all understand the protections that women need.

And so I say to Keenyah, "Boo-boo, I am so sorry."

None of us knew. Network executives didn't know.

And I did the best that I could at that time.

But she deserved more. She did.

[dramatic music continues]

[Jay] I can see how someone watching the show would feel upset.

There was a time when the creative of the show started to shift.

We were supposed to be showing the behind-the-scenes

of what the fashion world was, helping change the industry.

But the show had evolved in a way… way I'd never expected.

I really struggled over some of the things that happened.

I have never in my life yelled at a girl like this!

And that was something that was slowly depleting me,

chipping away at my soul.

I don't think this is right for me.

I don't wanna do it. I wanna go home.

Don't you think any job interview…

[Jay] It was time to tell Tyra I wanted to leave the show.

[music stops]

[lively electronic music playing]

♪ Left foot, right foot, never miss ♪

♪ Strike a pose, blow a kiss ♪

♪ Left foot, right foot, let them know ♪

♪ Center stage, steal the show ♪

♪ Flash, flash, camera pop ♪

♪ Paparazzi on the block ♪

♪ Miss Thang, do your thing ♪

♪ Top model, runway queen ♪

♪ Top, top, top model ♪

♪ Top, top, top model ♪

♪ Top, top, top model ♪

♪ Top, top, top ♪

♪ Now some ice spice with your eyes ♪

♪ Serve them face, hypnotize ♪

♪ Some ice spice with your eyes ♪

♪ Serve them face, hypnotize ♪

♪ High hems, high stakes ♪

♪ …make no mistake ♪

♪ High hems, high stakes ♪

♪ …make no mistake ♪

♪ Miss Thang, do your thing ♪

♪ Top model ♪

♪ Top, top, top model ♪

♪ Top, top, top model ♪

♪ Top, top, top model ♪

♪ Model ♪