Tearful Sherri Shepherd Defends Tyra Banks After Netflix ‘Top Model’ Documentary

Sherri Shepherd is weighing in, and she is not holding back.

On today’s episode of ‘Sherri,’ the Emmy winner became visibly emotional as she addressed the backlash facing Tyra Banks following Netflix’s ‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.’

While acknowledging some of the harm highlighted in the documentary, Shepherd urged viewers to consider the era and the uphill battle Banks faced bringing the show to air.

More details below…

Shepherd admitted she was glued to the screen:

“I’ve been up all night watching Netflix’s documentary about Tyra Banks and America’s Next Top Model uh when I tell you I was hooked i kept saying ‘I’m going to go to bed when this episode is over.” But then there would be a cliffhanger and I said “Okay I’m just going to watch one more.”

She addressed the controversy involving Cycle 6 winner Dani Evans:

“A lot of people are angry at Tyra uh after watching this um you know the show did awful things to the contestants and everybody I think expected Tyra to take more accountability they had season six winner Danny Evans… and Danny Evans talked about how she was pressured by Tyra into closing the gap in her teeth… Danny wasn’t accepting it… [she said] “you knew what you were doing for the show it you were making good for TV at my expense”.

Still, Shepherd contextualized the moment in time.

“I do understand but I also say you have to understand the time that this all happened was in 2003 reality TV was a wild wild west back then every show was trying to outdo each other to stay on the air… we’re not naive to what goes on behind the scenes in reality shows today so we’re trying to compare a time today that we know a lot to a time when there was nothing like this show on the air.”

She passionately defended Banks’ fight for diversity:

“We’re not taking into account the battles that this black woman had to fight just to stay on the air for other people to come on the air… no network wanted to pick up the show except UPN everybody said no… i bet you if Heidi Clume had shopped the show around and every model looked like Gigi Hadid it have been picked up immediately… [Tyra] came to them saying “I want a diverse cast i want black women and I want Lat women i want plus-siz women” and everybody said no because the industry standard looked like one thing.”

Drawing from personal experience, Shepherd reflected on past industry ignorance.

“I remember a time… I did a show and the white stylist they thought my hair was too oily… he didn’t know what to do he poured a whole tub of baby powder on my hair to absorb the oil and then took the curling iron to curl it now here I was a young black girl i wanted the job so I didn’t have the power to go stop… I had to take it as my hair was frying… that would never happen now… Nowadays if you have a black talent talent they make sure to get black stylists that’s what we had to fight for to get.

We didn’t have the sensitivities behind the scenes back then that we do now… if that show was on [now] they would have had an intimacy coach they would have had psychologists and therapists on the show to help these girls back then they didn’t know about any of that… there were things that we have to do that people will tell us if you want to stay on the air this is what you got to do.”

She made clear that accountability and perspective can coexist.

“I’m not saying that the show didn’t do terrible things because it did… she does need to take accountability… But I also know the battles some people will never understand the battles that are fought… you always think about the long game i want the show to stay on the air i want more black women to come on i want more plus-sized women… what we know now we accept we love the trans community we we accept our skin now but back then when I tell you the battles people don’t understand.”

And the conversation is far from over. In a titillating concluding tease, she quipped:

“On Tuesday I’m going to talk about all of this with the judges themselves i’mma talk about this miss J Alexander Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker will be here i am so glad because we’re going to discuss the show because they got some stuff to say they were an integral part they made that show.”

Watch the full segment:

Looks like this ANTM debate is only heating up!

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