Tyra Banks has come under fire for what happened on early seasons of America’s Next Top Model — again. This time, it’s from a woman named Lisa D’Amato who claims that Tyra exploited her childhood trauma on the show.
Lisa took to Instagram where she accused Tyra of not only exploiting her childhood trauma but also causing damage to other contestants. She will be speaking about it on the reboot of E! True Hollywood Stories although it is a breach of her contract.
‘I did it knowing that it was a breach of contract, still, because I felt like it was my duty to warn other girls that were going to audition for ‘America’s Next Top Model’ to know that what you guys do and the way that you guys would poke me and use my childhood trauma against me, day in and day out. It was just so f–ked up, and it broke my heart. Like, how could you do that?’
She went on to slam Banks: ‘I don’t know how you sleep at night. You, Tyra, you knew very well the horrible trauma that my mom inflicted on me, and you also talk so much about how you wouldn’t be where you are without your mother and how powerful she is. So knowing that, you still did that to me and continued to do it to other girls, even after I spoke publicly about it.’
Tyra has already apologized for her actions after ANTM went viral last year. From forcing the women to change their ‘race’ to making them cut their hair only to end up sending them home — the supermodel received backlash for her show that was loved then but is considered problematic now.
‘Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you. Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs,’ a tweet read after a clip of her and the other judges at the time encouraging one contestant to get her gap closed.
In a follow up apology, she explained that she was only doing things that she saw happen in the industry all the time. She admits that they missed the mark before.
‘America’s Next Top Model was created — I created it — to introduce diversity and inclusion into a world that was pretty much not representing that or representing it in the most minute ways. So that was the crux of why I created America’s Next Top Model. It’s why my partner Ken Mok and I, who’s Chinese American, got up every single day, and we made so many inroads.’
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But now, the 47-year-old preaches self love.
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