In the ‘Top Model’ Docuseries, Tyra Is No Longer In Control

Tyra Banks, who once functioned as creator, executive producer, judge and host of America’s Next Top Model, appears in a new three-part series, "Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model," as a subject rather than a controller of the story. She had no approval power over the documentary, received no questions in advance and was not paid, two of the series’s executive producers said, and she could not watch the finished film until it began streaming on Netflix on Monday.

The series returns to many of the show’s most contested moments: photo shoots that asked contestants to pose as homeless, bulimic or drug-addicted people; stunts that involved race-swapping and instances of blackface or brownface. Banks tells the filmmakers, "I was in my own little bubble, in my own little head," and adds, "this was my way of showing the world that brown and Black is beautiful." Contestants describe pressure and public humiliation, including Dani Evans’s account of being pushed into dental work to narrow a gap in her teeth.

United States

tyra banks, reality check, top model, netflix, photo shoots, blackface, brownface, race swapping, dani evans, public humiliation