Tyra Banks Faces Renewed Backlash in Netflix’s ‘America’s Next Top Model’ Documentary

Former stars of America’s Next Top Model are revisiting the show’s legacy in a new Netflix documentary — but even before its release, creator and host Tyra Banks is facing renewed criticism from fans.

Netflix released the trailer Monday for Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, which promises a behind-the-scenes examination of the long-running reality competition’s “complicated history.” The film features interviews with former contestants, winners, producers, and judges, including Jay Manuel, J. Alexander and Nigel Barker.

The documentary aims to address decades of backlash surrounding the series, which aired for 24 seasons between 2003 and 2018 and reached a reported global audience of 100 million viewers at its peak, according to Netflix. While America’s Next Top Model was once praised for pushing diversity in the fashion industry, it has since been widely criticized for body shaming, emotional manipulation, dangerous makeovers, and racially and culturally insensitive photoshoots.

In the trailer, Banks acknowledges that the show sometimes went too far — but a brief clip of her comments has sparked fresh outrage online. “I knew I went too far. It was very, very intense, but you guys were demanding it, so we kept pushing it, more and more and more,” Banks says in the film.

Many viewers accused her of shifting responsibility onto the audience rather than taking accountability. “Tyra, I was 7 years old — why are we shifting the blame?” one user wrote on X, while another added, “Blaming the audience for your lack of empathy and manipulative behavior ain’t it.”

The show’s culture has been heavily scrutinized in hindsight. Past episodes featured models assigned to portray different ethnicities using darkened skin and altered hairstyles, photoshoots depicting homelessness or violent deaths, and challenges that placed contestants in physically extreme or emotionally distressing situations. Judges frequently commented on contestants’ bodies, at times labeling models as “fat” or pressuring them to lose or gain weight. Several former contestants have also spoken about the impact of disordered eating and psychological stress during filming.

One of the most viral moments from the series — Banks screaming at contestant Tiffany Richardson during Season 4 — has been repeatedly shared on social media and cited as an example of the show’s harsh treatment of participants. As criticism mounted in the late 2010s and early 2020s, Banks issued multiple apologies for what she described as “off choices.”

The documentary includes reflections from longtime producer Ken Mok, who admits in the trailer, “There was a moment I realized, ‘Oh my God, I think we’ve built a monster.’”

America’s Next Top Model was adapted in dozens of countries, including the U.K., Germany, Australia and New Zealand, and remained especially popular with young viewers for much of its run. However, as social media reexamined early-2000s pop culture through a modern lens, the show became a frequent target of criticism.

“Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” premieres on Netflix on Feb. 16, setting the stage for a broader reckoning with one of reality TV’s most influential — and controversial — franchises.

Source: Forbes