Tyra Banks is facing a long-awaited reckoning. The model and television personality was the main topic in a recent docuseries. Former contestants spoke out against Tyra. Talk show host and former DWTS contestant Sherri Shepherd weighed in on the backlash. Keep reading for her thoughts on the situation.
Tyra Banks Blasted After Netflix Docuseries
Tyra Banks broke barriers as one of the most booked Black models in history. In 2003, she launched America’s Next Top Model, a reality competition meant to go against beauty standards at the time, focusing instead on diverse body types and races. But good intentions gave way to reality TV drama.
America’s Next Top Model ran for 15 years. The show ended in 2018 but gained renewed attention in 2020 when everyone was home, binge-watching TV. While ANTM was a top reality show in 2003, it wasn’t viewed the same in the lens of 2020. Tyra Banks was blasted for her treatment of the contestants. Fans demanded accountability.
Netflix premiered the docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model earlier this week. Tyra Banks took part in the series but viewers weren’t impressed by what she had to say. Many fans of the show accused her of refusing to take accountability for her past behavior.
Sherri Shepherd Speaks Out About Backlash
The Netflix docuseries was mentioned on several talk shows this week, from The View to Sherri Shepherd’s daytime talk show. Sherri will end after this season amid a daytime TV shakeup.
Sherri Shepherd was among the few who spoke up in Tyra’s defense. “The show did awful things to the contestants, and I think everybody expected Tyra to take more accountability. I understand why people are mad,” Sherri Shepherd began.
She continued, “But I also say, you have to understand the time this all happened was in 2003. Reality TV was the wild, wild west back then. Every show was trying to outdo each other to stay on the air.”
The former Dancing With The Stars contestant welcomed America’s Next Top Model judges Nigel Barker, Jay Manuel, and Miss J Alexander to the show days after the docuseries aired. Jay Manuel, who detailed his falling out with Tyra Banks, said that she wasn’t acting like her “real” self in the docuseries.
Miss J, who revealed they suffered a stroke in 2022 and was wheelchair-bounded, shared an update on where he stands with Tyra Banks. He said in the docuseries that tons of other celebrities visited him in the hospital except for her. He told Sherri Shepherd that Tyra still hasn’t visited him.
Tyra Banks hasn’t responded to the backlash. However, she revealed in the docuseries that she’s working on bringing ANTM back for Cycle 25. Tell us your thoughts on the Netflix docuseries in the comments.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger
