‘America’s Next Top Model‘s legacy will be a confusing one.
While praised for permeating Pop culture and solidifying Tyra Banks‘ legacy on one hand, it- rather unfortunately- is also critiqued for its failure to produce an actual ‘Top Model’ and its treatment of its contestants.
From forcing African-American models to shave their heads bald for ratings-pulling reactions, to allegedly doing little to support the careers of its winners, the show- for more informed viewers- isn’t all Banks and company touted it to be.
The latest contestant to criticise the platform?
Tiffany Richardson, berated by Banks when she refused to cry after learning she had been eliminated in its fourth cycle.
What she has to say about her experience?
Find out below…
She told Buzzfeed:
I was there but I wasn’t there. It was so different for me. I don’t know anything about designer clothes, and it was kinda like I had to try to fit in and figure it out. Even with makeup, I felt really out of place.
Every time I did something wrong, I’d shut down a little bit more, and it just got to the point where I was over it. I felt like we were just there to be humiliated. It was like, ‘What else could we do to them?’
According to Richardson, the argument was “1,000 times worse” in reality. She was hesitant to elaborate, but when pressed for more details, Richardson said she recalled Banks yelling at her, “You can go back to your house and sleep on your mattress on the floor with your baby,” in front of the other judges, contestants, and crew members.
It gets more interesting.
Allegedly concerned that her encounter with Richardson would play out negatively for her when the episode aired, Banks is said to have orchestrated an on-camera meeting between the two of them to make amends.
The information below was presented to Buzzfeed by one of the show’s producers Heather Cox.
Producers did another exit interview with Richardson as a way of “buttoning up” her storyline. According to Cocks’s recollection of the decision, Banks “basically drove that train.” The concern was that the story was essentially “unfinished” without showing that Banks and Richardson had made amends.
So Banks, along with her mother, Carolyn London, visited Richardson while she was in her hotel room, which former contestant Rebecca Epley confirmed, though she wasn’t present for the conversation. Richardson said that the contestants had met London earlier in the competition and that she loved how “warm her spirit was” because it reminded Richardson of her grandmother. In hindsight, Richardson saw London’s presence in her hotel room as a way for Banks and the producers to make her feel more comfortable for the closing interview they had planned. According to Richardson, Banks recognized that they had a “moment,” said she saw a lot of herself in Richardson, and said she would continue to act as her mentor. “You would think that if you cared that much, you would’ve been there more,” Richardson said. “I didn’t think she cared. I don’t think she gave a **** about none of us, except for the ones who made it big. But hey, it is what it is.”
How she feels about the show now?
I’m a completely different person. She doesn’t owe me anything. I’m good. If I would’ve took advantage of the situation, it was worth it … but I knew nothing about [modeling]. I was just like in a whole new world … I was young and crazy, I didn’t get it.
I remember Tiffany and this cyle. I assure you all that tiffany was a great model. Her pictures were amazing. However, it was her attitude that sent her home. It was almost as if she wasn’t trying anymore. She really had a good chance of winning because the judges did like her pictures, they just didn’t like her attitude.But, tyra was being extra with the yelling and bu sending two people home that week
TIFFANY WAS BABY NAOMI!!!! ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!!!!! GORGEOUS AND FLAW FREE CHOCOLATE SKIN. SHE AUDITIONED FOR CYCLE 3 AND WAS SO UPSET BECAUSE A WOMAN POURED A BEER ON HER WEAVE IN THE MIDDLE OF A BAR FIGHT. SHE MADE IT INTO CYCLE 4 AND STILL DID NOT SHED HER NEGATIVE SPIRIT AND APPLY A NEW ATTITUDE FOR A NEW LIFE. WASTED POTENTIAL BECAUSE THE GIRL IS GORGE. SHE DID NOT OPEN UP TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS. TYRA WAS PISSED LIKE THAT BECAUSE OF THE DOORS AND OPPORTUNITIES SHE HELPED CREATE FOR THIS YOUNG BLACK WOMAN AND SHE SQUANDERED IT. TYRA FELT SHE COULD HAVE MADE IT FURTHER AND MAYBE WON.
Chill on the caps
Well she looks a mess now…
The thing is, no matter how you edit something, you can ALWAYS tell someones intentions and you can ALWAYS tell when someone cares about someone else. To this day, that clip strikes a chord with many, not just because it makes for great television, but because there was a tangible feeling of love and disappointment that Tyra was evoking. And Tiffany is clearly still upset by what happened. You can tell through her guarded and flippant rhetoric.
You don’t yell at people you respect or care about. Tyra only started that Mama Tyra act to assert an unatural authority over grown women who were a little under ten years younger than her. Those who know the truth know that Tiffany found out that the show was fixed ( Covergirl chose the winners not the judges) and she knew she wasn’t going to win. That is why she seemed to “give up”. Janice confirmed the show was fixed when she left the show as did Paulina so Tiffany isn’t alone in this. Tyra tries her best to seem kind and personable but the truth is that she is cold and cruel and very cunning. Anyone who’s seen her interview with Naomi will see how she tried to act as though Naomi was a big bad bully. The truth is that Naomi knows how colorism works and knew that the industry were trying to replace with her a fairer alternative.
You guys should have posted the pic of what she looks like now. A mess.
I mean none of the models are doing s*** anyway unless they crossed over into acting
Caridee wasnt event a winner but I still see her more than yoanna or whoever it was that won that season
Adrienne is on coke
Eva is an actress and reality star
CariDee did win you idiot
I think the people going into Top Model should prepare more. It is an opportunity / job to be on reality tv and yes producers move quick to get you filmed once you are selected. But with any “competition” you have to be prepared. If that means buying a bunch of clothes to wear on the show and return them after the show so be it. If that means signing with a management company to get you ready for tv so be it. Tyra is petty but it is not like these people do not know she is that way from watching the previous seasons. It is all about politics, winning, and being prepared. If you go into a reality competition without being prepared then you have to have the best over-the-top likeable personality to be go far.
Good advice
Tiffany has that hiid girl attitude. The bad one though. You are eitherbthe dreamer who is going to make it out the hood, or u use the “i m from the hood and only will be from from the hood”, and that was Tiffany’s mentality. Look at what she is saying now. She isn’t a model and doesn’t know about makeup or designers. Fake it until you make it. She had the potential, but she gave up. She had a chance to win, she was a top cast member and had a story line and a personality. I remember the episode and the girls had to read fake words and she gave up on reading the teleprompter. She gave excuses and Tyra was just annoyed at the girl for not giving her all.
I remember thinking Tiffany was gorgeous on her cycle, but she really hasn’t aged well. As for the show, it was always about Tyra first, the other judges second and the girls a distant third.
I don’t even see the point of bringing this up over a decade later.
What happened to Tiffany is the same thing that happens to young women and men who grow up in the hood and somehow end up in Corporate America. They don’t know how to adapt to the mainstream world and can’t relate to their more privileged counterparts. So they let their frustrations get the best of them and become self destructive. They feel like an outcast but everyone else sees them as negative ultimately leading to them being terminated or quitting. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. She could have been bigger than Eva if she had more guidance.
Wow
I just want to know why is this now after so many years ago she brought up?
Because of jealous of Tyra? And Tyra Beauty?
Let it go. ..