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Dirty Rotten Scandals - Season 1 - Episode 04: America's Next Top Model Pt. 2
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00:05Top Model was a pop culture sensation.
00:09The person that wins is going to go from being nobody
00:11to being the star in eight weeks.
00:14Tyra Banks was the air that we breathed.
00:16Everyone wanted to be her.
00:18Tyra wasn't trying to help these girls.
00:20They were trying to create a great TV show.
00:23The crazy the models were,
00:25the better ratings they got on television.
00:27I don't understand why I don't have any friends.
00:29I break my daughter all day.
00:32Why do you her?
00:33The psych evaluations were no joke.
00:35It also shows Tyra.
00:36Do we think they can handle the pressure?
00:38They were weaponizing my childhood trauma for entertainment.
00:42She's drunk.
00:43They just with me emotionally.
00:46Over the years, it became more and more exploitative.
00:48Brittany, an African-American woman.
00:50There are literally people in blackface on TV in the 2000s.
00:55This is all people see.
00:57Ezra's beautiful cover girl.
00:58It seems like Tyra is sort of working her out on other people.
01:02Tyra was breaking the girls down so she could feel better about herself.
01:06Be quiet, everybody.
01:07Be quiet.
01:08Borrow something from this.
01:10When you create an environment that you told me was going to be better than this,
01:14and then you make it worse?
01:16That's **** **** up.
01:24I have the opportunity to introduce a special guest for you here this evening.
01:28She's beauty.
01:30She's grace.
01:31She's writing a tell-all book about her time on America's Next Top Model.
01:34Are you ready?
01:35Please give it up for Sarah Hartshorn!
01:43For years after the show, I defended it like crazy.
01:47And people would ask, wasn't it terrible?
01:49Wasn't it awful?
01:50And I'd say, no, no, no.
01:51I was on America's Next Top Model after the show, worked for many years as a plus-size
01:56model.
01:57And then I quit modeling, gained a bunch of weight, became a plus-size person.
02:01Weird how those aren't the same thing.
02:04I was convinced that Tyra and the producers never meant any ill will or had any bad intentions.
02:11They were just trying to make good TV.
02:14But then in 2020, a lot of people re-watched the show and sort of started to come to terms
02:19with how problematic a lot of it had been.
02:21There was so much body shaming on the show.
02:22I didn't even realize the comments they were making were toxic.
02:25And it was this, like, sort of awakening.
02:28And I had it at the same time.
02:30People kept saying, that's so messed up.
02:31That's so messed up.
02:32And I was like, wait.
02:34Was that so messed up?
02:46We all have that fantasy that we're going to be plucked out of obscurity and we're going
02:52to become rich and famous.
02:52But even those who won Top Model, while they might be famous as reality personalities,
02:58were never really that famous as models.
03:02Maybe in the first few seasons, Tyra earnestly believed in her ability to make a career modeling
03:08for these women.
03:09But once you have evidence that your show doesn't actually do anything for anybody,
03:13well, you got a machine going.
03:16Keep making the money.
03:18A lot of people might have assumed that we were paid to be on that show.
03:21We were not paid to be on the show.
03:23We worked 12, 16-hour days.
03:26And even when we were sleeping, there were cameras on us.
03:29We were given $37 a day to buy our food.
03:32These girls don't get residuals.
03:36And then Tyra says, go back to your life with no money.
03:40Well, I collect millions and millions off of their faces.
03:51Adrienne Curry won the first season of Top Model.
03:54In the first couple of seasons, they got this coveted cover girl contract.
04:00I'm really happy with Adrienne's success.
04:02She has cosmetics contracts.
04:04She's doing really, really well.
04:06And she's making a lot of money.
04:08Like, a lot.
04:11This is before the era of these contestants being all over social media.
04:16So, if you tell me that Adrienne Curry is doing incredibly well and making a lot of money,
04:22I have no way of fact-checking that.
04:24A $100,000 contract does not mean a $100,000 check.
04:27It was actually just the promise of the opportunity to do $100,000 worth of work over a year.
04:38But there was a clause that said that if circumstances arise and that work can't be provided, they were under
04:47no obligation to pay you.
04:50After five months, I'm kind of like, uh, what's going on?
04:56And it wasn't going to be a big cosmetics campaign.
04:59It was just going to be convention work.
05:01They knew that my mom was about to lose her house.
05:05And I was told, you win this, you're a millionaire overnight, you take care of your family.
05:10And, you know, I told my family this, and I felt like I failed them.
05:21America's next top model is...
05:28The day when Tyra showed my picture, it was almost like cold water thrown at my face.
05:34I wasn't expecting the win.
05:37It was almost just like an out-of-body experience.
05:41But then it really hit the next day when I went to New York City and I signed with the
05:47modeling agency.
05:49And my mother said, well, where's Joanna going to stay?
05:51And they said, we don't know.
05:54For one year, I was indebted to the franchise America's Next Top Model.
06:00I had to do a lot of appearances.
06:02I never got paid for any of them.
06:05I was sleeping on a couch.
06:07And I had to figure out, how am I going to eat?
06:14Tyra's production company at the time was quite literally called Bankable Productions, right?
06:19Which is the play on her name.
06:20But you copyright the format and then sell it all over the globe.
06:25Then you do get to literally rake in a lot of the profits.
06:3745 different countries worldwide had their own version of top model.
06:42Tyra Banks became a mogul.
06:46She was a top model, actress, creator, and executive producer of a global franchise.
06:55It feels really good having the show be such a hit and be so successful.
06:59It just makes me just go home at night and smile as I'm going to sleep.
07:03I left the show broker than I'd ever been in my life.
07:16Why do you want to be a supermodel?
07:18Being a supermodel, you have to have that confidence.
07:20And you guys are going to speak like a supermodel.
07:22In the first season, the word supermodel appeared way more than it did in the subsequent seasons.
07:27Those clients wanted to book you. That's the signs of a top model in the making.
07:33Thereafter, it was America's next top model.
07:36And I don't think that that shift is a mistake.
07:41I think a lot of girls really expect a lot from Tyra Banks, being that she picked them and, like,
07:47she should be the one to create their careers.
07:50But in all honesty, the show is about Tyra Banks.
07:54And I don't think she's going to try to make you more famous than her.
07:59Tyra loves to portray herself as somebody who has a helping hand.
08:04And no, she's doing this all to manipulate people for her own profit.
08:11The central delusion of the show is that Tyra is helping you just because you are getting exposure because you're
08:19on TV.
08:20But, like, being on television is not help.
08:23It's not.
08:27I grew up in the hood of Buffalo.
08:29East Side Girl through and through, 716 all day.
08:33I was always tall, always skinny.
08:36So that meant that I got ridiculed because I didn't look like the other girls in the urban community.
08:44I wasn't curvy, wasn't thick.
08:47And I remember Tyra saying that she got bullied for being tall and skinny.
08:52And I was like, oh, my God, I got bullied for being tall and skinny, too.
08:56Girl, we are soul sisters.
08:58And in cycle 14, I was okay with placing top four because some of the girls who don't win get
09:04signed.
09:05Oh, trust me, you will be seeing you again.
09:08Know that.
09:08Bye, y'all.
09:08High hopes for you.
09:11So I thought the agencies will be calling me.
09:14No, nobody called me.
09:17Nobody wanted to work with me because of how I was portrayed on the show.
09:21Okay, because you want me to be this hood ghetto bitch?
09:23No, I know how to conduct myself, bitch.
09:25I worked at a bank.
09:27Urban, ghetto, whatever you want to call it.
09:29And they said they can't market that.
09:31And that scares clients.
09:34There was embarrassment because I had been on such a big show that shows in so many countries.
09:40And then I had nothing to show for it.
09:42When they called me to do all-stars, I just wanted another chance.
09:47I went through all the past cycles and brought back your favorite.
09:52As Top Model goes on, you have to keep the format fresh.
09:56You start to see the show needing to come up with more kinds of gimmicks.
10:01In cycle 17, the all-star cycle, they brought back all of these returning contestants.
10:09Cycle 5 made me the enemy of my own life around the globe on repeat.
10:14Well, then why'd you go back?
10:17I went back for revenge.
10:18I went back for redemption.
10:20I went back to change my life.
10:23But one of the biggest, biggest red flags on all-stars was they kept us in the vans for like
10:31four or five hours.
10:36With paper bags over our heads.
10:40Do you know what this all reminds me of?
10:44The Stanford Prison Experiment.
10:48With the Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971, you're putting people in prison.
10:53Some are given roles as wardens.
10:56Some are given roles as prisoners.
10:57And then you watch what happens.
11:01Before the Stanford Prison Experiment started, they had everybody line up and sit on these benches.
11:07And made them wear paper bags over their heads for hours.
11:11To make them vulnerable and feel completely out of place and confused.
11:18That's what they did to us on all-stars.
11:22The bag over the head.
11:24If I had hair, girl, I'd be pulling it right now because it was stressful.
11:30It's important to keep in mind where reality television comes from.
11:34In the 1960s and 1970s, you actually have these sociological experiments that are recorded and then broadcast on television.
11:41Taking real people and putting them in very sort of arduous situations to see how they will react.
11:50There's an idea that if you throw ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances, you will learn something about human nature.
11:58And I think that America's Next Top Model is very much building on that legacy.
12:04What makes reality television so compelling is that you get to see real people feel really vulnerable.
12:10However, how can it showcase that vulnerability without exploiting it?
12:19And then we're in Greece.
12:22It was the Cycle 17, the All-Stars, the finale.
12:26It's Allison, it's Anjali, and it's me.
12:30The top three.
12:31The final three.
12:33The final runway.
12:34The gods, the goddesses.
12:36It was so hot on the beach.
12:38The whole set looked like it was half broken down.
12:43And then I won this show.
12:50Couldn't believe it.
12:51Like, oh my God.
12:53I'm going to be able to take this opportunity and really just live out my dreams again and just do
12:59it right.
12:59Because now I'm a little bit more gamed up.
13:01I can move and I can network properly, you know?
13:04This is great.
13:06A few weeks later, I was back in Buffalo.
13:10And I had gotten a phone call.
13:12And it was from Michelle Mock.
13:15The casting director.
13:17She was like, hey, we want to fly you to New York City because we want to talk about sponsorships
13:23since you won.
13:25Okay, fine.
13:29I end up going to the Mandarin Oriental, which is a five-star hotel.
13:36And the attorney for CBS is there.
13:38The casting director, Michelle Mock, is there.
13:41And it was like, now we need to get down to business.
13:45I'm like, oh, okay.
13:50We can't air you as the winner.
13:53And I was like, why?
13:56Because you were engaging in sex work.
14:12After Cycle 14, before I went on All Stars, I was in a bind.
14:16And I was just desperate to, you know, to make some money.
14:24And someone took advantage of me.
14:26A predator swooped in and just put me on a path of self-loathing and destruction and harm.
14:38I obviously didn't make the best choice, but I was desperate and I wasn't thinking straight.
14:46Now, here I am at the Mandarin Oriental.
14:51I just won this show.
14:53This show that will change my life for the better.
14:57Just for them to take my shit away from me.
15:01I get why they technically can do that.
15:06Because escorting is illegal.
15:09But for a show that is gifting a prize for selling beauty,
15:16to disqualify a woman using her agency to sell her beauty,
15:22is hypocritical, sexist, and misogynist.
15:32Before All Stars, I meet with the casting director, Michelle Mock, in L.A.
15:39She's asking me, what have you been up to since the show?
15:42Oh, just modeling?
15:44Anything else?
15:45She flat out asked me.
15:47She was like, um, were you being pimped?
15:53She held my hand and she said,
15:59Um, I know what happened to you,
16:03but I want you to take this opportunity and run with it.
16:08That is exactly what she said.
16:10This is like confirming that somebody knew what had happened to me.
16:16They knew everything about all of us.
16:19You literally have our blood type and our fingerprints.
16:23She was set up from the very beginning
16:25to be the one that's disqualified at the end.
16:31Anjali didn't make any money doing the thing
16:34you promised you would help her make money doing.
16:37And you snatch it away from her.
16:40That's cruel.
16:43My dream was right there.
16:45Like someone dangling candy in front of a kid.
16:48Like almost, almost, almost.
16:50I was supposed to walk away with $100,000,
16:53but they gave me $300 cash.
16:57Like some pity money that sent me on my way.
17:03Two months later, the producers called me.
17:06We're going to do a reshoot for the finale.
17:10And then on the show,
17:12they said Anjali is disqualified.
17:15It turns out that after shooting was wrapped,
17:17our production team and the network learned information
17:20from Anjali that disqualifies her from the competition.
17:25America's next top model is Lisa.
17:32So when the episode aired,
17:36Lisa is the on-air winner of Cycle 17 All-Stars.
17:40Nothing about me being the original winner
17:43or why we had to disqualify Anjali.
17:47So now the trending topic on Twitter was me.
17:50What happened to Anjali?
17:53I went back to change the narrative
17:55so people would stop calling me an alcoholic bitch.
17:58That definitely didn't happen.
18:00They actually made it worse.
18:03There was fans coming after me,
18:07asking what happened to Anjali.
18:10So now I have people reaching out to me
18:12and of course I don't want to talk about it
18:13because I'm embarrassed.
18:15I just went through something so traumatic.
18:17The attorney for CBS told me,
18:19you know, Anjali, you did this to yourself.
18:23Yes, thank you.
18:24Thank you for being so kind
18:25and telling me that I f***ed up.
18:28People kept talking about it
18:30and so they brought in the ratings.
18:33I felt used.
18:35I felt like a throwaway.
18:38There could have been a sensible excuse
18:40as to why Anjali didn't make the final runway.
18:44She got sick or something.
18:47But y'all wanted people to question
18:49what happened to me to boost your ratings.
18:54It's not right.
18:55It was wrong.
18:57The system we're in already punishes poverty.
18:59You told me that if I worked hard
19:02I could get this thing.
19:03I got it and you took it from me.
19:06And then to strip that s*** from her
19:09and she actually needs it
19:10and you give it to a white woman?
19:15You gotta be f***ing kidding me, yo.
19:26It wasn't always about who the best model was.
19:29It was about who would be
19:30the best spokesperson for the brand.
19:34Top Model took Anjali's win away
19:37because Cover Girl allegedly
19:39was not happy that an escort won.
19:44If you have a presenting sponsor
19:46that pays for production
19:48you gotta keep your presenting sponsor happy.
19:52By Cycle 24
19:52it wasn't even a modeling competition anymore.
19:54It was a gimmicky TV show.
19:56Whoa, whoa, whoa.
19:58It's a big step.
19:59It's a big step.
20:01Tyra over the years
20:03was really good at fetishizing
20:06and gimmicking up people
20:08who looked even more different
20:10than the different she used to sign.
20:12Celebrate.
20:12And what makes you interesting,
20:14special, different?
20:15I have a disease called
20:16alopecia universalis
20:17so it's autoimmune.
20:18It attacks my hair follicles
20:19and my hair falls out.
20:20It's hard to talk about.
20:24I was like a super fan of the show
20:25before I was even on it.
20:28I know the show like the back of my hand.
20:29Every winner, every contestant
20:31from every season.
20:33I had a lot of insecurities
20:35about losing my hair
20:36but I thought being on the show
20:39was an opportunity for me
20:40to kind of find myself
20:41and figure out who I was
20:42without other people telling me
20:44like what was beautiful.
20:46But out of all 24 seasons
20:48of America's Next Top Model,
20:50the sponsor has always been
20:52a makeup brand.
20:55My season was the only season
20:57that the sponsor was a hair company.
21:00How was I ever going to win
21:02once I was told Pantene was the sponsor?
21:04I don't have hair.
21:06You cast a girl with alopecia
21:09on a hair product competition.
21:12I mean it's cruel.
21:13It's evil.
21:15Look, I can imagine
21:17to be a buxom 17-year-old black girl
21:20in France selling your looks,
21:23you're probably treated like a zoo animal.
21:25but you promised me
21:27you were going to do it different.
21:29So why didn't you do it different?
21:32Right away during my audition process,
21:34I walked into the room.
21:35I was like,
21:36hi, I'm Gina.
21:37They were like,
21:38so you went from childhood modeling
21:40to like va-va-boom.
21:42And Tyra's like looking at me like this.
21:44And I was like,
21:45are you guys referring to Playboy?
21:48As soon as I said that,
21:50I noticed Tyra's expression changed
21:52to like kind of smug and like cold.
21:56And when I said the idea of selling sex
21:58worked for me,
21:59being sexy in my career worked for me.
22:01Tyra didn't like that.
22:03And her response to me was,
22:05you sound like a prostitute.
22:08Tyra made an entire career
22:09off of being sexy.
22:10I mean the biggest thing she's known for
22:12is Victoria's Secret.
22:13It blew my mind
22:15that she was that offended by it.
22:17And this is within minutes
22:18of meeting somebody
22:19that I idolized my entire life.
22:22So I told them,
22:23I lost my hair
22:24at the same time
22:25every girl was getting boobs
22:26and like having a glow up.
22:28I did something to grow into
22:31and step into my own femininity.
22:33And as soon as I said that,
22:35she looks at me and goes,
22:36now tell me about alopecia
22:38while I'm mid-breakdown.
22:40I see a very beautiful girl
22:42with hair or without hair.
22:44Do your next fellow fierce.
22:47None of the conversation
22:48about Playboy
22:49and why I was crying like that
22:51was ever shown.
22:52That was the first,
22:53the very first way
22:55that they manipulated my emotions
22:57to get a certain scene.
23:01They always would do this
23:02manipulation surrounding
23:04the concept of my story
23:05with my hair.
23:07I am ready with your tie over.
23:09Gina, that wig that you have,
23:11you're going to have to say
23:11goodbye to her.
23:12I never saw that video.
23:14I never saw Tyra say that to me.
23:16I was told I was getting a wig.
23:17The editing process
23:18changed that video.
23:20Can we take your wig off now?
23:22Because I don't even know
23:23what's under.
23:24Oh.
23:25I just never know.
23:26It's a surprise at a time.
23:27Like, I always hope
23:28that there's hair there
23:28because there's not.
23:30They literally just told me
23:31they were giving me hair
23:32and then all of a sudden
23:33it was different.
23:35I had never shaved my head
23:36like that before.
23:38It felt like touching a snake.
23:40Like, I just felt like
23:42creepy crawly in my own skin.
23:45Looking back on it,
23:47their editing was that deceptive
23:49that they were actually able
23:50to make an audience
23:50think that I felt powerful.
23:56I felt so small.
24:01How do you get
24:02the reality TV show Emmy?
24:04Make sure you have
24:05a sad arc of someone
24:07who's gone through
24:07some massive struggle
24:09to show why their circumstances
24:13are so desperate
24:14that they're entitled
24:16to public sympathy.
24:18The production of the show
24:20really know how to make sure
24:22that they cast girls
24:25that came from a really hard
24:27or toxic childhood background.
24:30Tell me about growing up
24:32and all the things
24:33that you went through
24:33and all the tragedy.
24:35I've been just passed off
24:36to family members a lot.
24:41I was molested, raped.
24:44They were really good
24:45at casting someone
24:46who was struggling
24:47with something.
24:48You got brothers and sisters?
24:50You're my brother's dad.
24:53I think Renee from my season
24:55was going through some things
24:57in her life already.
24:58Tyree, you have to understand
24:59I have a family to take care of.
25:01My husband was living on the beach.
25:02My son's living with his mom.
25:04I have a lot on my shoulders
25:05right now.
25:07And something was
25:08kind of spiraling.
25:09Listen, I do talk.
25:11I don't feel guilty
25:12about talking.
25:13And people have been
25:14disrespectful to me.
25:15Is that true?
25:15Y'all don't like me either?
25:19After the show,
25:21Renee,
25:22she was in a bad way.
25:24There were a string of arrests.
25:27Alway accused of breaking
25:28into people's homes and cars,
25:30stealing weapons, money,
25:32and other valuable items.
25:35Renee did an interview
25:37in prison.
25:39I was like in shock.
25:42Everybody says,
25:42well, wow,
25:43you have all this great opportunity.
25:44But when it comes down to it,
25:47I got into the world
25:48and I went,
25:49I went, okay,
25:49like here I am,
25:50you know,
25:50ready to do this.
25:51And it was just
25:52closed door after closed door
25:53after closed door.
25:54I couldn't get past
25:56the reality TV stigma
25:58that had been put on me.
26:01And then there's
26:02Miriana Pujar,
26:04Cyclist 21.
26:06I felt like we had
26:07like a similar shared path
26:09and background.
26:12She was this girl
26:13who was also
26:14an urban girl,
26:14a girl with a little sass,
26:16a little spunk.
26:17There's a little toughness
26:18in there.
26:19Where's that come from?
26:20I had like a abusive boyfriend
26:22at 13.
26:22I didn't have that love
26:23from my dad,
26:24so I was kind of looking
26:25for that with him.
26:26And just like
26:27all the urban girls,
26:29girls like me,
26:31girls who are labeled
26:31with an attitude,
26:33she was having
26:34a hard time getting signed
26:35after being portrayed
26:36as difficult
26:37or as a villain.
26:39She's young,
26:40she has no direction.
26:41She picked the wrong guy
26:42to love.
26:44I was so upset
26:45about how she was treated
26:46like nothing.
26:55She was killed.
27:04Yeah, you want that prize,
27:06don't you?
27:08Reality TV in general,
27:10people will get cast
27:11who are relying on this
27:13to make their paycheck.
27:14I was hoping that
27:15I could use this
27:16to pay off
27:18all of the bills
27:18that, you know,
27:19we're swimming in debt.
27:20We don't have any place
27:21to live.
27:22And I just feel like
27:23I failed.
27:23I feel like I failed
27:24my family.
27:25They are easy to exploit
27:27because they are
27:27the most desperate
27:28and are willing
27:28to accommodate
27:29the most things.
27:31If I think
27:32that Tyra Banks
27:33is my only shot,
27:35I'm going to give
27:36everything I have.
27:38Okay,
27:39it's just six weeks
27:40of this crazy,
27:41crazy competition
27:42and I'll never have to live
27:44in a roach-infested
27:44apartment again.
27:45Well, then I'm going to do
27:47every challenge
27:48to the max.
27:49When you come
27:50from a background
27:51where you're used
27:53to being abused,
27:54being taken advantage of,
27:56you're already used
27:57to not standing up
27:59for yourself,
27:59not setting boundaries.
28:01So it's very easy
28:03for productions like this
28:04to emotionally manipulate us
28:07for entertainment
28:08and Tyra just gets away
28:10with it.
28:20I don't think Tyra
28:21had a responsibility
28:22to take care
28:23of these women.
28:24It would have been
28:25relatively impossible,
28:27but she had a responsibility
28:29to be honest with them.
28:30And I think
28:31where she chose
28:32to employ that honesty
28:33ultimately was cruel
28:35and where the honesty
28:37was needed
28:37was completely ignored.
28:41When Mirjana
28:42passed away,
28:44Tyra's post was like,
28:45oh, Mirjana,
28:47we love you forever,
28:49forever in our hearts.
28:51And I was just like,
28:53girl, that is bullsh**.
28:56Tyra and the judges say,
28:57they care about us.
28:58They want us
28:58to have a good career.
29:00We believe this.
29:02But if y'all
29:03would have reached out
29:04to her and helped her,
29:06could she have been
29:07in a different situation?
29:12I did not get
29:13a single phone call
29:15from Tyra,
29:16from anybody
29:17checking up.
29:19Wow.
29:19Filming all stars.
29:22Ken Mock,
29:23he came in the room
29:24and he says,
29:24I just want to thank
29:25you girls so much
29:26because you girls
29:27put my girls
29:28through college.
29:30And the silence
29:31in the room
29:32at that point
29:33was deafening.
29:35We did not come
29:36on this show
29:37to make your family's
29:39life better.
29:40We came on this show
29:41to make our lives better.
29:43I wanted to be able
29:44to give young girls
29:44that dream
29:45because it's an amazing dream
29:46and I had the power
29:47to give them that dream.
29:49Call it for what it is.
29:51It's a business to you
29:52and that's fine.
29:53Don't go into a media blitz
29:55about how you care about us.
29:57You didn't and you don't.
30:00I really do think
30:02that sometimes Tyra
30:03thought she was doing
30:04good things.
30:05It's not true
30:08but when you get
30:09high off your own supply
30:11more than making
30:13a bajillion dollars,
30:15she got an ego stroke.
30:18Tyra's face
30:19was all over the place.
30:21In the house,
30:21on the show,
30:22it was an environment
30:24of worship,
30:25like a sort of
30:25deity situation.
30:26Tyra created
30:28her own language
30:30which she has
30:30trademarked as smize.
30:33Smize!
30:34Smiling with your eyes.
30:35Booty tooch.
30:36A booty tooch.
30:38H to T.
30:39I need a little bit
30:40more H to T.
30:41What does that mean?
30:42Head to...
30:43You get Tyra mail
30:45that like leaves
30:46a little cryptic riddle
30:47about what your next
30:48challenge is going to be.
30:49It's all the tips.
30:51Care to die.
30:52The branding
30:53of the whole situation
30:54is like Tyra.
30:55It's Tyra's world.
30:56We're in it.
30:58I read the book
30:59Cultish
31:00about cults
31:01of every level
31:02and it really breaks down
31:03the tools
31:04that they all use.
31:06Top model.
31:08They used all of them.
31:11The unifying definition
31:13that people have
31:13around what makes
31:14something a cult or not
31:15is high control.
31:17They controlled
31:17when we went to the bathroom,
31:18when we ate,
31:19when we slept,
31:20when we were allowed
31:20to speak to each other.
31:21They isolated us
31:22from our friends and family.
31:23We weren't allowed
31:24to have magazines.
31:25We weren't allowed
31:25to have newspapers.
31:26We weren't allowed
31:26to have anything
31:27that showed what day it was
31:29or what time it was.
31:31Down to using the same phrase
31:33over and over again.
31:34If you violate
31:35the confidentiality agreement,
31:36we will dock your wages
31:37for the rest of your life.
31:38We will dock your wages
31:39for the rest of your life.
31:40We will dock your wages
31:41for the rest of your life.
31:45Tyra is the sun and the moon
31:47because it's her show
31:49and she holds your fate
31:51in her hands.
31:53If you think about
31:53the main season cast photos
31:55where they will slowly
31:58just remove people,
31:59like they just disappear.
32:00It's like Tyra controls
32:02who gets to exist
32:03and who does not get to exist.
32:06We were so sucked into
32:08doing what they wanted
32:09and just following every order
32:13because Tyra Banks
32:16was just the air
32:17that we breathed.
32:19We would do anything for her.
32:23I think fame and validation
32:25are two different things
32:26because Tyra was famous,
32:28but she wanted to be revered
32:30and respected.
32:32Designers don't talk about Tyra
32:34the way designers talk
32:35about Naomi Campbell.
32:37I think that's the kind of thing
32:38that eats at Tyra.
32:41We know Tyra Banks.
32:43She is famous.
32:44I think she wants more than that.
32:56You've just seen
32:57the beginning of Tyra.
32:58She is starting
32:59to build an empire.
33:01She looks up to Oprah
33:03like nobody else.
33:07I don't think Tyra gets
33:08the Tyra show
33:09if Tyra doesn't do top model.
33:13I don't think anyone
33:14is like, oh, yeah,
33:15this one girl
33:16who did Victoria's Secret.
33:17I want to hear
33:18what her opinions are.
33:23Tyra wanted me
33:24to come on
33:25the Tyra Banks show
33:25and the producer
33:27called me and said,
33:28we'll pay $750
33:30and we want to interview you
33:31about your childhood trauma.
33:33And I said,
33:34not happening.
33:35We all agree
33:36that we will just talk
33:38about your experience
33:39on top model.
33:40great.
33:41My makeup is done.
33:43It's my turn to go
33:44get interviewed by Tyra.
33:46And all of a sudden,
33:48I hear,
33:49now I think everybody
33:51remembers Lisa
33:52as what people,
33:53the fans say,
33:54the wild child
33:54from Cycle 5.
33:55And then she said,
33:56but what you don't know
33:57is that she has been
33:59physically and sexually abused
34:01most of her childhood.
34:05It was like ice in my veins.
34:08And then I look over
34:09and I see Tyra
34:10just sitting there.
34:11I'm like,
34:12you.
34:12I was like,
34:13you,
34:13you.
34:14I was so livid.
34:19The PA really calmly
34:21takes me backstage
34:22and then he opens
34:25the door to some room
34:26and he just closes
34:28the door behind him.
34:33They locked me
34:34in a closet.
34:39I was in there,
34:40I don't know,
34:41like 20,
34:4230 minutes.
34:43I was like,
34:43I don't want to go back.
34:44And they're like,
34:45well,
34:45then you aren't going
34:45to get the $750.
34:48And so I'd go back up
34:49on stage
34:49and finish shooting.
34:57I know Tyra
34:58went through a lot,
35:00but was she a hurt person
35:02hurting other people?
35:04Some people could give her
35:06that title,
35:08but, you know,
35:09to be honest,
35:10I don't think Tyra
35:11really reveals herself
35:12very much to people.
35:15You couldn't really
35:16get to her
35:17in that way.
35:19I wish I could tell you
35:20what you get
35:21out of this experience
35:22except a lifetime
35:23of hate comments
35:24on Instagram.
35:26All I wanted
35:27was to have a career
35:27and to put money
35:28in my pocket.
35:29I thought being on the show
35:31was going to get me in.
35:33It turned out to be
35:34the opposite, actually.
35:36There were quite a few
35:37lasting effects
35:38after the show.
35:39For a period of time,
35:41it was, um,
35:43uncomfortable for me
35:44to eat in public
35:46because of feedback
35:48about my weight.
35:50Reach.
35:52After the show,
35:53I developed a workout disorder
35:56where I would want to burn
35:58almost everything
35:59that I'd eaten for the day.
36:01I became so tiny
36:03until a point where
36:05I stopped menstruating
36:06for two years.
36:08Very nice.
36:09Two more.
36:09And I went with a physician
36:11and he said,
36:12you know,
36:12you're now impacting,
36:14sorry,
36:17you're not going to be able
36:18to be a mother
36:19or have a child
36:21if you continue
36:25trying to always
36:26lose weight
36:27and be this thin.
36:30and that really scared me.
36:35Who knows?
36:37Maybe these women
36:39would not have had
36:40a modeling career
36:41anyway.
36:43But you promised me
36:44something
36:46and you didn't deliver.
36:48My life is worse off
36:50and you own my face.
36:53How are you any different
36:54from a pimp
36:55selling dreams?
36:58In 2020,
36:59it was a moment
37:00of re-examination.
37:02I decided to go
37:04on my Instagram.
37:06What you guys do
37:07and the way
37:08that you guys
37:09would poke me
37:11and use my childhood
37:13trauma against me
37:14day in and day out.
37:16It was just so up.
37:18I don't know
37:19how you sleep at night.
37:20In that video,
37:21it got like
37:22190,000 views,
37:25like,
37:25I don't know,
37:262,000 comments,
37:27like,
37:28literally overnight.
37:29It just blew up.
37:31It opened the doors
37:33to where other girls
37:34were contacting me
37:35because what I had said
37:38was exactly
37:39what happened to them.
37:40Tyra Banks,
37:41you speak on
37:42all this female empowerment
37:43and building people up
37:44and accepting
37:45their differences
37:46when in reality
37:47you do the opposite.
37:56It opened up
37:58this camaraderie
37:59and we didn't
38:00feel alone anymore.
38:07I've gone through therapy.
38:09I have had a great career
38:12in the world of broadcasting,
38:14fashion reporting,
38:15commentating,
38:16and of course
38:18being a mom
38:19to my son Alistair.
38:22I've kind of
38:22given up
38:23being so hard on myself
38:24so
38:25I've come out stronger.
38:30I worked after the show
38:32as a model
38:32but I realized
38:33when I would show up to set
38:34that I was sick of being
38:36the least creative person there.
38:38so I made the shift
38:39and I started working
38:40as a writer.
38:42I just wrote my book
38:43called
38:44You Want to Be on Top?
38:45A Memoir of Makeover's
38:47Manipulation
38:47and Not Becoming
38:48America's Next Top Model.
38:50When I started to write down
38:52the story
38:52and tell the things
38:54that happened
38:54that I had never said
38:55out loud before
38:56it was surprisingly painful.
38:59Like when I saw
39:00my own words on the page
39:02I was like
39:05that was a human being
39:06that was doing that to me.
39:10I ended up
39:11going back to school.
39:12I am an award-winning journalist
39:16and I always say
39:17award-winning
39:18because you're going to
39:19put some respect
39:19on my name.
39:20You know,
39:20no matter what I've been through
39:22I'm here now.
39:24Part of the reason
39:25why I got into
39:26a journalism career
39:27was because
39:29I wanted to tell
39:30stories of
39:31people's voices
39:32who were silenced
39:33like how they tried
39:34to silence me.
39:39All right,
39:40so let's get into it.
39:41First of all,
39:42we need to have
39:43a lot of movement,
39:45dimension,
39:45and shapes.
39:46Who remembers
39:46those three key elements?
39:49Now,
39:50I help other
39:52aspiring models
39:53and I develop them
39:54and help them
39:55start their own
39:55modeling careers
39:56with my company
39:57Find Your Light.
39:58Oh, I love!
39:59And I have just gotten
40:00tons of models
40:01signed to modeling agencies
40:02and it has just been
40:05incredibly fulfilling
40:06to help these models
40:07establish their
40:08confidence in themselves.
40:10More neck, more neck,
40:10more neck.
40:12Yeah, I think long neck.
40:14It's super important
40:15for you to be comfortable.
40:17It's important
40:18that we feel
40:20safe
40:20and like somebody
40:22actually cares.
40:24Being a mom now,
40:26the last thing
40:27that I want to do
40:27is raise two girls
40:29who have insecurities.
40:31Like,
40:32I never want them
40:32to feel the way
40:33that I did.
40:35The last thing
40:36this world needs
40:36is two more
40:37insecure little girls
40:38and for them
40:39to go seeking validation
40:40from someone
40:41who's also going
40:41to hurt them.
40:45When people go,
40:46you're just bitching,
40:47it was reality TV
40:48back then.
40:49Tyra Banks
40:49and Ken Mock
40:50are still profiting
40:51off of the tears
40:52and the trauma
40:53of girls
40:54to this day
40:55right now.
40:56That's why
40:56I'm still sitting here.
40:58That's why
40:58I'm still complaining.
41:00I think about
41:01Heidi Klum
41:02who did Project Runway,
41:04but she never
41:05actually became
41:06like the public
41:07character of the show.
41:08When you contrast it
41:09to something like
41:09top model,
41:10it really is
41:12a control exercise
41:13to ensure that
41:15people understand
41:15that Tyra is the alpha
41:16and the omega.
41:16at the expense
41:18of the contestants.
41:20I refuse
41:21to have my legacy
41:23be about some stuff
41:26linked together
41:27on the internet
41:28when there were
41:2924 cycles
41:32of changing the world.
41:36It didn't change
41:37the world,
41:37it didn't change
41:38my world.
41:39It changed the world
41:41of the people
41:41you interacted with.
41:43I don't know
41:44what's subversive
41:46about making
41:47pretty girls
41:48feel bad
41:49for not being
41:49pretty enough.
41:51You didn't subvert
41:52anything.
41:53Tyra Banks
41:54is a woman
41:54with all kinds
41:56of issues,
41:57puppeteering
41:58a bunch of girls
41:59and giving them issues
42:00while she's working
42:01on her own issues.
42:04Get therapy.
42:05You got the money
42:06for it.
42:29There are no
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