The Internet Is Debating Tyra Banks Over 'Reality Check' Doc
The Internet Is Debating Tyra Banks — 3 Of The Biggest Takeaways From ‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model’
Tyra Banks is facing scrutiny over drama that occurred behind the scenes during her tenure on 'America's Next Top Model.' Here are three of the biggest takeaways from the spicy docu-series and what people are saying.
Source: Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model / Netflix
Tyra Banks is facing renewed scrutiny over what really happened behind the scenes during her tenure on America’s Next Top Model. The controversy is revisited in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, which premiered on Netflix on Feb. 16. If you’re new to the show, the long-running competition series aired from 2003 to 2016 and followed aspiring models from across the United States as they lived together, tackled weekly challenges, and faced elimination. Each season crowned one winner as “America’s Next Top Model,” awarding her a fashion magazine spread along with contracts from a major fashion brand and modeling agency.
But while the show delivered glossy photoshoots and dramatic judging panels, the documentary suggests there was tension simmering off-camera, particularly between Banks and some of the series’ most recognizable personalities, including former creative director and judge Jay Manuel and runway coach Miss J. Alexander. Banks also addresses the viral confrontation with contestant Tiffany Richardson that remains one of the most talked-about moments in reality TV history.
Here are three of the biggest takeaways from the documentary.
1. Tyra Banks reflects on the “We Were All Rooting For You” moment.
One of the most infamous scenes in Top Model history came during Cycle 4, when Banks erupted at contestant Tiffany Richardson during an emotional 2005 elimination.
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In the docuseries, Banks revisits the explosive exchange — now widely known as the “We were all rooting for you!” moment — and admits, “I went too far. I lost it.”
Reflecting on Richardson, Banks says, “Tiffany, that girl, that girl was my heart. She didn’t make it the first year because she got into a fight at a bar, but we mentored her off-camera and said, ‘We feel like this show is going to be amazing for you. Let’s get you the help that you need,’ and our team did.”
Tensions escalated after Richardson appeared to shrug off a teleprompter-reading challenge. Banks interpreted the reaction as a lack of effort.
“I just wanted to change this woman’s life. I felt like she could have been a supermodel with a capital S,” Banks said. “And I just saw all of that going down the drain.”
Looking back, Banks shared that the confrontation was about more than just the competition.
“It was probably bigger than her — it was family, friends, society. Black girls, all the challenges that we have, so many people saying that we’re not good enough. I think all of that was in that moment.”
Tyra’s explosive reaction also shocked the judges.
Photographer and guest judge on the show, Nigel Barker, added, “Tyra really scared all of us. We literally jumped out of our seats.”
“It was definitely the most difficult moment on set that I’ve ever experienced,” Jay Manuel, the show’s former creative director and judge, said. “When we were done shooting, production stopped. Literally, they just took Tyra off set.”
Another major revelation centers on Banks’ fractured relationship with Jay Manuel.
Manuel began as Banks’ makeup artist before joining Top Model as creative director when the show launched, according to Cosmopolitan. Alongside Nigel Barker and Miss J. Alexander, the group formed a close-knit on- and off-screen bond. All three were ultimately dismissed in 2011 after Cycle 18.
After eight cycles, Manuel said he felt disconnected from the version of himself being portrayed. He described how the show had “evolved in a way I had never expected,” and admitted he “tortured” himself over the decision to leave.
“The reason I [wanted to leave the show] at that time was because all my options were up on my contract. And I wanted to step away in a positive way. I didn’t have any obligations to fulfill,” Manuel further explained during an interview with Tudum on Feb. 16.
He recalled a promise Banks once made: “As things grow, let’s never talk through our people. Always, come to me.”
“So, I wrote her a very short, beautiful email that said, ‘Hey, I really appreciate it, and I am so grateful for this start, and I’m grateful that I could be there for you in realizing this dream.’”
By then, Manuel had secured opportunities with E! and the Style Network. But he says Banks never responded, at least not in the way he expected.
“I remember getting the email, and my heart went into my throat when I saw her name come up. The email had no salutation — nothing. It just said, ‘I am disappointed.’ That’s it. And then she never spoke to me again.”
Oddly, show producers asked Manuel to return for several more seasons before he eventually severed ties with Banks and the show. He claimed legal pressure from the show’s parent company left him feeling cornered.
“They put the fear of God in you,” he said. “So, then I was like, ‘Okay, well, I’ll have to go back and do one [more] cycle. I can get through one cycle.’”
He added, “In that moment, I felt like I already understood the ramifications of saying no… I was so scared that if I said no, there was the threat that this huge parent company, which was like a behemoth, would then block me from any of their channels, and I would never work again.”
He called the decision “mental warfare” and “the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to endure.”
3. Miss J. Alexander reveals a devastating health battle.
Near the end of the documentary, Miss J. Alexander shared a deeply personal revelation: he suffered a stroke on Dec. 27, 2022, that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
“I’m the person who taught models how to walk… And now I can’t walk. Not yet. I’m determined to walk,” the runway icon said.
Reflecting on the day of his paralyzing stroke, Miss J. recalled waking up disoriented in the hospital.
“I had a stroke. I woke up, I didn’t know where I was, other than the hospital,” he shared during his interview on Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, EW notes. “I spent five weeks in a coma, and I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t talk. I thought to myself, what was I going to do? I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t speak. It was emotional, I cried. I’m not ashamed to say that. I cried, and then once I was in the hospital, Jay [Manuel] and Nigel [Barker] came to visit.”
Miss J. said it made him emotional seeing his former workmates.
“I thought back to how we used to do shows together. I cried because I just missed them so much.”
Surprisingly, when asked whether Banks had visited, he responded, “No, not yet. She just sent me a text that she wants to come and visit me. But, no, not yet.”
Naturally, social media has been talking up a storm about the drama shared in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, with many saying Tyra Banks hasn’t taken enough “accountability” for her actions on the show. Some say she owes everyone a big apology. Take a look at some of the reactions below.
Have you seen Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model? What are your thoughts?
