Tyra Banks confronts ‘America’s Next Top Model’ controversies in explosive Netflix doc

Tyra Banks is revisiting the legacy of America’s Next Top Model in Netflix’s new docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, and the reckoning is far from gentle.

The series takes a hard look at some of ANTM’s most controversial moments, many of which resurfaced during the pandemic when the show found a new audience on streaming and TikTok. From race-swapping photo shoots to emotionally charged eliminations, the doc explores how a cultural phenomenon became the subject of widespread backlash.

“It went from this thing that everybody loves to just, overnight… ‘Look how wrong this is!’” Tyra says in the series, reflecting on how the show was re-evaluated years after its original run.

Re-examining the moments that sparked outrage

One of the most criticised challenges revisited in the doc involves a Cycle 4 “Got Milk?” shoot in which contestants were styled to represent different races and ethnicities. Creative director Jay Manuel admits he felt uncomfortable at the time.

“If you really look for it, you can see it on my face,” he says in the series.

Tyra acknowledges she did not view it as controversial when it aired.

“I was in my own little bubble,” she says. “I thought I was showing the world that brown and Black is beautiful. Then we put it out there and the world was like, ‘Are you crazy?’”

Executive producer Ken Mok also addresses the Cycle 8 crime scene-themed photo shoot, in which models were styled as murder victims.

“That was a mistake,” he says in the documentary. “It was a celebration of violence. I look back and I’m like, ‘You are an idiot.’”

The moments that defined ANTM

The docuseries revisits Tyra’s explosive confrontation with Cycle 4 contestant Tiffany Richardson, a scene that became one of reality television’s most replayed clips.

Looking back, Tyra admits, “I went too far. I lost it.”

Former contestants also reflect on the pressure to alter their appearance, including Cycle 6 winner Dani Evans, who was encouraged to close the gap in her teeth. Tyra says she has since apologised, explaining that industry feedback influenced the decision at the time. Dani disputes that the change improved her career prospects.

Other participants discuss how weight became part of storylines and how certain situations on set were handled in ways that would likely not be accepted today.

Behind-the-scenes tension

The documentary also explores strained relationships behind the camera. Jay Manuel claims communication between him and Tyra deteriorated after he expressed a desire to leave the show. He later, along with Nigel Barker and J. Alexander, learned of his departure through media reports rather than directly from production.

Tyra declines to expand on some of those tensions on camera but acknowledges the emotional weight of the changes.

Once a defining force in early-2000s reality television, ANTM is now being viewed through a very different cultural lens. Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model serves as both reflection and reckoning, with those involved confronting decisions that shaped the show’s legacy, and its controversy.

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is now streaming on Netflix.