Tyra Banks Opens Up About ’America’s Next Top Model’ Controversies

In an Entertainment Tonight Exclusive, model Tyra Banks speaks out about the backlash she’s received for the controversial comments she made on past episodes of America’s Next Top Model.

Over a Wednesday Zoom call with ET’s Kevin Frazier, the ANTM host admitted she was wrong about her cringe-worthy moments of demeaning contestants. In particular, the resurfaced video clip showing Banks, 46, asking cycle six winner Dani Evans, “Do you really think you can have a CoverGirl contract with a gap in your mouth? It’s not marketable.” And a clip from cycle 13, where she encouraged models to darken their skin tones for a photoshoot, ET reports.

“Yes, I apologized for it. Because we put it out and even me just watching it after, I was like, ‘Oh, this ain’t right,'” Banks, 46, told Frazier of the latter clip. “We felt like our skin is beautiful, let’s paint the world our color. And then when we saw it, we were like, ‘Oh no, this excuses other people to do this in a negative way.'”

When specifically asked about the clip with Evans, she said, “I cringe.”

ANTM aired its first episode in May 2003. Over 22 seasons, 14 contestants fought for the title of America’s Next Top Model with Banks as the host. Bank blamed the past events resurfacing due to a “whole new generation of people that didn’t grow up with my show” and didn’t see that she issued an apology on her talk show a while back.

“We realized that, and I went on my talk show and did an entire segment on what we did. What we did was wrong, and we apologized for it,” she continued. “But not everybody saw that.”

The show relaunched season 23 with host Rita Ora as the new host.

Banks issued a more recent apology on May 8 through twitter. “Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments, and I agree with you,” she wrote. “Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs.”

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