How to Say Everything Except “I’m Sorry” By Tyra Banks

Scandoval permanently altered my brain chemistry, Love is Blind villains regularly give me nightmares, and I still have a trauma response to pyramids because of Dance Moms, but all of that is child’s play compared to the chilling horrors that went down on America’s Next Top Model. You know, the 2003-2018 show that was ostensibly about “modeling” but really about scarring 18 to 21-year-old girls in the most diabolical ways possible. You don’t know the true meaning of “humiliation ritual” until you’ve watched a young girl get a Brazilian on-camera or dress like an elephant for a photoshoot.

And yet, nearly a decade after the series finale, show creator and star Tyra Banks and executive producer Ken Mok still can’t manage to take a modicum of responsibility or utter a sincere apology. Even in a three–hour documentary about every major controversy.

The new three-episode Netflix series, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, revisits some of the most disturbing moments of the series — Shandi Sullivan’s televised assault and implosion of her relationship, that absolutely mindboggling and horrific “race-swapping” shoot, and the viral scene where Tyra berates Tiffany Richardson in front of everyone, to name a few. And yeah, you don’t see any legit atoning from Tyra or Ken. Instead, it’s the Deflecting Responsibility Olympics. The apologies are few, far between, and totally forced.

Ken concedes he was an “idiot” (an understatement) for approving that graphic photoshoot glorifying violence, and Tyra realizes she went “too far” with Tiffany (ya think?). But the vibes are less remorseful reckoning and more, “Oh, we were naive little babies back then” or “That wasn’t really my responsibility” or “Hey, good TV is good TV.”

It’s obvious that basic morals had no place on that set, but I still gasped when they blatantly admitted that. Ken brushed off the heartbreaking Shandi situation, claiming he was just following protocol at the time. Has he ever considered that said protocol might’ve been spectacularly fucked up?

“We treated Top Model as a documentary,” he said, matter-of-factly. “And we told the girls that. We would go over the rules. There’s going to 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.” The suggestion that a televised assault is just part of the joband Shandi knew what she was getting into… I actually have no words.

He even had enough audacity to declare: “That was, for good or bad, one of the most memorable moments in Top Model.” FOR GOOD OR BAD? Sir, you’re officially beyond help.

Tyra’s excuse was just as profoundly disappointing. “I’m not head of story,” she deflected. “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.” Yes, apparently, we’re supposed to applaud Tyra for cutting some of the assault scene. How thoughtful and generous.

When it comes to the Tiffany situation, aka one of the most enduring memes of our time, we’re supposed to accept that Tyra’s intentions for losing her shit at the model were pure, and she just got a little too passionate in the moment. “I just wanted to change this woman’s life,” she explained. “I felt like she could have been a supermodel, with a capital S.” So, I fear there’s actually no justification for bullying a vulnerable girl in front of a whole cast, and “went too far” doesn’t quite cover it. I suspect the ~good intentions~ are not what Tiffany remembers from that day.

But the real kicker comes at the end of the doc, when Tyra somehow manages to turn her long resumé of brutal controversies on us. Ragebait at its finest. She lectures (threatens?), “I want you guys to be just as open as I am now about getting called on my shit for when somebody calls you out on yours. Because that day will come.” Is the “open about getting called on my shit” in the room with us though?

Cycle 6 winner Dani Evans said it best: “Girl, that is absolutely ridiculous.”

Despite Tyra’s attempts at damage control, the documentary reminds us of all the darkest moments of the show — and reveals how she distanced herself from her beloved right-hand man, Jay Manuel, and hasn’t visited the legendary Miss J since he was paralyzed by a stroke in 2022. The models featured in the documentary are very clear about the ways in which they felt unsupported both on the show and after. (All that on-camera humiliation, and most of them could never get work IRL.)

Although the initial vision for ANTM was about inclusivity, empowering women, and changing the beauty industry for the better, the reality didn’t always live up to that mission, and people who were hurt on the show deserve more than half-assed, almost self-congratulatory “apologies” from Tyra, Ken, and everyone involved.

Oh, and it turns out this whole doc might’ve just been a PR bandaid to try to clear the runway for a potential cycle 25 of the show. As if anyone wants more of this harmful tomfoolery in the year of our lord 2026. Shaking my head more than a head has ever been shaked.