{"id":1788272,"date":"2026-02-23T19:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1788272"},"modified":"2026-02-23T19:33:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:33:00","slug":"has-the-fashion-industry-really-changed-since-americas-next-top-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1788272","title":{"rendered":"Has the fashion industry really changed since America\u2019s Next Top Model?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/23-397-1983-1322\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438516.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/fashion\/article\/69718\/1\/americas-next-top-model-antm-tyra-banks-netflix-documentary\" data-article-id=\"69718\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-portrait-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.71\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tyra Banks ANTM\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1280\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438516.jpg\" width=\"2134\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Frederick M. Brown via <span class=\"nowrap\">Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-02-23T19:33:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"23 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"23\">23,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - fashion\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\">Fashion<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/opinion\">Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\">Fashion<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/opinion\">Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Has the fashion industry really changed since America\u2019s Next <span class=\"nowrap\">Top Model?<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>Netflix\u2019s three-part documentary hinges on the premise that Tyra Banks conceived ANTM during a cultural dark age \u2013 but Jenna Mahale argues that much of the industry is still stuck in <span class=\"nowrap\">the past<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-23T19:33:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"23 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"23\">23,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-23T19:33:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"23 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"23\">23,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/JennaMahale\">Jenna Mahale<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Netflix is no stranger to a damage control documentary, but its latest offering could be the premiere example of crisis management disguised as millennial nostalgia-bait. <\/span><em><span>Reality Check: Inside America\u2019s Next Top Model<\/span><\/em><span>, the streamer\u2019s new three-episode docuseries, is pitched as an expos\u00e9 of the notoriously toxic competition show, which drew millions of viewers at the height of its cultural dominance in the 2000s. With access to both executive producers \u2013 series creator Tyra Banks and head of story Ken Mok \u2013 various judges, and numerous former contestants, <\/span><em><span>Reality Check <\/span><\/em><span>is well-poised to give us novel revelations about a series that was criticised at the time for instances of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/culture\/2006\/05\/the-racial-politics-of-america-s-next-top-model.html\"><span>overt discrimination<\/span><\/a><span>, as well as purposefully <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jezebel.com\/the-exquisite-sadism-of-america-s-next-top-model-5685443\"><span>putting contestants in harm\u2019s way<\/span><\/a><span>. But what\u2019s marketed as a tell-all is rarely ever bold enough to deliver on that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The show is the newest addition to an expanding genre of reputational-rehabilitation vehicles for celebrities staging some form of public comeback. In Banks\u2019 case, she seems to be testing the temperature for a potential ANTM revival, which she hints at towards the end of episode three. Victoria Beckham got the Netflix redemption treatment last year, as her own three-parter attempted to defend her from lesser allegations (mainly of being an unsavvy business-owner) by emphasising her contributions to the fashion industry alongside her struggles with it. In a similar vein, <\/span><em><span>Reality Check<\/span><\/em><span> focuses on Banks\u2019 cultural impact as a Black supermodel: a diverse trailblazer during and following her come-up in the 1990s, as well as a victim of that era\u2019s particularly vicious tabloid culture.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cThe show goes along with Tyra\u2019s framing of the <em>ANTM <\/em>backlash as a post-COVID phenomenon spearheaded by a younger generation of wokescolds\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Unlike Beckham\u2019s series, Banks\u2019 is not self-produced, but one can\u2019t help but feel that her participation is contingent on the interviewers treating her with kid gloves. The show goes along with Tyra\u2019s framing of the <\/span><em><span>ANTM <\/span><\/em><span>backlash as a post-Covid phenomenon spearheaded by a younger generation of wokescolds, liberally employing B-roll of TikTokers parodying Tyra or expressing distaste for some of the production\u2019s more egregious choices.<\/span><span>Electing to style models in blackface may be the most infamous example, but <\/span><em><span>Reality Check<\/span><\/em><span> recounts a dereliction of care in multiple troubling ways: continuing to film as a blackout drunk contestant was sexually assaulted, excoriating models over a scintilla of body fat, sanctioning the emotional abuse of marginalised participants, and manipulating discriminatory tensions between them in the name of \u201cstory\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What <\/span><em><span>Reality Check<\/span><\/em><span> can\u2019t admit to are uglier accusations: that <\/span><em><span>ANTM <\/span><\/em><span>allegedly used <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vulture.com\/article\/sarah-hartshorne-americas-next-top-model-memoir-explained.html\"><span>alcohol, isolation and lies<\/span><\/a><span> to untether its participants from reality; that its competitive environment could have encouraged eating disorders among them; that each contestant only received a $38 daily stipend to buy food while Banks reportedly <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/celebrity\/articles\/tyra-banks-accused-paying-antm-165141468.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAApwCwcwkytP2cctdWpV8IrALu5-X8FK1x_iJgeh6SMroQ4T7vL3d0Ci-5ATL3ucazPsvvbNTNg9cE-C_wmAkNgpT8Cq3wMWVnUVevYKw5KN-LbAM-lrlG7pqBegxA8naBpUqBEhcQR_S90Hyds1vbgp37PVd9gL5AD41OlB_EqR\"><span>took home millions<\/span><\/a><span>. In 2021, former contestant Sarah Hartshorne spoke out about conditions on the show. \u201cProduction kept us in the dark about almost everything because they wanted to keep us on edge,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/12\/01\/antm-alum-exposes-tyra-banks-claims-she-underpaid-models\/\"><span>she said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cUs being confused, tired, stressed, sleep-deprived and hungry just made for better TV.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The closest the series gets to a <\/span><em><span>mea culpa <\/span><\/em><span>is in discussing Shandi Sullivan, the season two contestant who left <\/span><em><span>ANTM<\/span><\/em><span> following her sexual assault during a trip to Milan. The then-19-year-old describes production setting the girls up on wine-and-dinner dates at their shared accommodation with a group of local men, and being too inebriated to consent or even feel it when she \u201cknew [sex] was happening\u201d to her. Production not only continued filming while the assault was taking place, but spun Sullivan\u2019s assault as a cheating scandal in the edit (going as far as naming the episode \u201cThe Girl Who Cheated\u201d) and wouldn\u2019t allow her access to a phone in the aftermath of the trauma. When questioned about the circumstances around \u201cShandi\u2019s story,\u201d executive producer Tyra Banks claims that production is \u201cnot [her] territory\u201d and defers to Ken Mok, who argues that intervening would have been a violation of their documentary\u2019s ethics.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"9b6c537b-2f80-4379-a6d8-b3fa011ce669\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438517.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.48\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tyra Banks ANTM\" class=\"img\" height=\"2031\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438517.jpg\" width=\"3000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Tyra Banks with season two contestants Yoanna House, Shandi Sullivan and <span class=\"nowrap\">Mercedes Scelba-Shorte<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography Frazer Harrison via <span class=\"nowrap\">Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>But while criticism of Mok and Banks\u2019 alleged exploitation has reached a fever pitch, there\u2019s every indication that, on a systematic level, the same 2000s attitudes remain in the fashion industry. In October, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vogue.com\/article\/the-vogue-business-spring-summer-2026-size-inclusivity-report\"><em>Vogue Business<\/em><\/a> reported that size inclusivity on catwalks \u201cremained minimal\u201d in the SS26 season, comprising 97.1 per cent straight-size models, two per cent mid-size and 0.9 per cent plus-size, noting a conservative culture shift linked to the spread of \u201cwhite supremacist ideas.\u201d The past week has also seen the manosphere-adjacent right-wing streamer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2026\/feb\/18\/foid-looksmaxxer-manosphere-influencer-braden-peters-aka-clavicular\">Clavicular<\/a> make his NYFW debut, and his deranged \u201clooksmaxxing\u201d technique involving injectables and a hammer immortalised in the pages of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/inside-claviculars-thirsty-tour-of-new-york-city\">GQ<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Fashion is and has always been rife with abusive characters, unpaid workers and impossible standards. It finds a bedfellow in reality TV, another woefully unregulated industry that preys on the aspirations of the working class. While there has been some <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/11\/arts\/television\/love-is-blind-nlrb-employees-union.html\"><span>legal recourse<\/span><\/a><span> regarding reality contestants\u2019 rights as employees in the context of <\/span><em><span>Love Is Blind <\/span><\/em><span>\u2013 which allegedly paid participants \u00a3250 per week for \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/tv-and-radio\/2023\/aug\/18\/we-wont-take-this-any-more-reality-tv-stars-battle-to-unionise\"><span>up to 20-hour days<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d \u2013 contemporary survival shows demonstrate that the behind-the-scenes desire to manufacture drama continues to take precedence over contestant wellbeing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Take the 2023 Netflix series <\/span><em><span>Popstar Academy: Katseye, <\/span><\/em><span>in which teen girls compete against each other over two years for a place in a six-person K-pop idol group. The contestants, some as young as 15, are trained by a dance instructor who behaves like a drill sergeant, and encouraged to push their bodies to the point of injury. At a certain point, production stops delegating mentors to inform them of their eliminations \u2013 the task is instead performed by an anonymous voice that plays out of a rotating splotch on a black screen \u2013 and the contestants all weep as their friends\u2019 dreams are dashed before their eyes. It\u2019s morally convenient to dismiss ANTM as a relic of the 00s, but some eerily similar practices still continue in television today.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cFashion is and has always been rife with abusive characters, unpaid workers and impossible standards. It finds a bedfellow in reality TV\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em><span>Reality Check: Inside America\u2019s Next Top Model<\/span><\/em><span> takes great pains to address the cultural value of what Tyra and her contemporaries were creating, and stresses the fact a show like <\/span><em><span>ANTM<\/span><\/em><span> had never been made before, as a kind of anticipatory defence. For the most part, the show seems to assert that the cruel and unusual conditions on<\/span><em><span> America\u2019s Next Top Model<\/span><\/em><span> were not conceived at the whim of its executive producers, but merely incidental to the workings of the fashion machine in the early 00s. <\/span><em><span>It was a different time<\/span><\/em><span>, <\/span><em><span>we didn\u2019t know any better<\/span><\/em><span>, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Also currently streaming on Netflix alongside <\/span><em><span>Reality Check<\/span><\/em><span> is <\/span><em><span>High &amp; Low: John Galliano<\/span><\/em><span>, a portrait of the once-disgraced British designer by Kevin Macdonald<\/span><em><span>.<\/span><\/em><span> Like the drunken anti-Semitic rant that begins the Galliano film, <\/span><em><span>Reality Check<\/span><\/em><span> introduces the viewer to its primary subject by showing them at their lowest point. In Banks\u2019 case, this is her much-memed outburst in 2005, in which she aggressively berates contestant Tiffany Richardson for a blas\u00e9 reaction to her own elimination. The effect of these fall-from-grace framings isn\u2019t exactly flattering, but structurally they allow their subjects to compartmentalise their misconduct as a blip in a grand narrative. Neither Galliano nor Banks is especially convincing in their contrition \u2013 and why would they be? Their industries have taught them there\u2019s really no need.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! 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decoding=\"async\" alt=\"LUEDER AW26\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-339-2002-1332\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438256.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Ghostly figures plagued the runway at LUEDER\u2019s London show<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/36720\/0\/tolu-coker-aw26\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tolu Coker AW26\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-417-1334-887\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438252.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Tolu Coker takes the throne at London Fashion Week AW26<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/36719\/0\/central-saint-martins-ma-fashion-2026\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Central Saint Martins MA Fashion 2026\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-441-1334-887\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438224.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Central Saint Martins\u2019 graduating class came in hot for 2026<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69702\/1\/knwls-goes-ballistic-for-aw26-aidan-zamiri-lfw-csm-aw26-balenciaga\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"KNWLS AW26 \" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-1-1080-718\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438146.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">KNWLS is going \u2018ballistic\u2019 for AW26<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69692\/1\/mugler-the-divine-david-hoyle-heated-rivalry-miguel-castro-freitas\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"David Hoyle Mugler\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/46-317-1034-688\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438134.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Nightlife icon David Hoyle talks Heated Rivalry and cruising in Mugler<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69691\/1\/kai-ghattaura-central-saint-martins-csm-ma-fashion-2026-esdeekid\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Kai Ghattaura Central Saint Martins MA Fashion 2026\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-300-1285-855\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438104.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Meet the buzzy CSM grad who\u2019s already dressing EsDeeKid<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Netflix is no stranger to a damage control documentary, but its latest offering could be the premiere example of crisis management disguised as millennial nostalgia-bait. <\/span><em><span>Reality Check: Inside America\u2019s Next Top Model<\/span><\/em><span>, the streamer\u2019s new three-episode docuseries, is pitched as an expos\u00e9 of the notoriously toxic competition show, which drew millions of viewers at the height of its cultural dominance in the 2000s. With access to both executive producers \u2013 series creator Tyra Banks and head of story Ken Mok \u2013 various judges, and numerous former contestants, <\/span><em><span>Reality Check <\/span><\/em><span>is well-poised to give us novel revelations about a series that was criticised at the time for instances of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/culture\/2006\/05\/the-racial-politics-of-america-s-next-top-model.html\"><span>overt discrimination<\/span><\/a><span>, as well as purposefully <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jezebel.com\/the-exquisite-sadism-of-america-s-next-top-model-5685443\"><span>putting contestants in harm\u2019s way<\/span><\/a><span>. But what\u2019s marketed as a tell-all is rarely ever bold enough to deliver on that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The show is the newest addition to an expanding genre of reputational-rehabilitation vehicles for celebrities staging some form of public comeback. In Banks\u2019 case, she seems to be testing the temperature for a potential ANTM revival, which she hints at towards the end of episode three. Victoria Beckham got the Netflix redemption treatment last year, as her own three-parter attempted to defend her from lesser allegations (mainly of being an unsavvy business-owner) by emphasising her contributions to the fashion industry alongside her struggles with it. In a similar vein, <\/span><em><span>Reality Check<\/span><\/em><span> focuses on Banks\u2019 cultural impact as a Black supermodel: a diverse trailblazer during and following her come-up in the 1990s, as well as a victim of that era\u2019s particularly vicious tabloid culture.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cThe show goes along with Tyra\u2019s framing of the <em>ANTM <\/em>backlash as a post-COVID phenomenon spearheaded by a younger generation of wokescolds\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Unlike Beckham\u2019s series, Banks\u2019 is not self-produced, but one can\u2019t help but feel that her participation is contingent on the interviewers treating her with kid gloves. The show goes along with Tyra\u2019s framing of the <\/span><em><span>ANTM <\/span><\/em><span>backlash as a post-Covid phenomenon spearheaded by a younger generation of wokescolds, liberally employing B-roll of TikTokers parodying Tyra or expressing distaste for some of the production\u2019s more egregious choices.<\/span><span>Electing to style models in blackface may be the most infamous example, but <\/span><em><span>Reality Check<\/span><\/em><span> recounts a dereliction of care in multiple troubling ways: continuing to film as a blackout drunk contestant was sexually assaulted, excoriating models over a scintilla of body fat, sanctioning the emotional abuse of marginalised participants, and manipulating discriminatory tensions between them in the name of \u201cstory\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What <\/span><em><span>Reality Check<\/span><\/em><span> can\u2019t admit to are uglier accusations: that <\/span><em><span>ANTM <\/span><\/em><span>allegedly used <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vulture.com\/article\/sarah-hartshorne-americas-next-top-model-memoir-explained.html\"><span>alcohol, isolation and lies<\/span><\/a><span> to untether its participants from reality; that its competitive environment could have encouraged eating disorders among them; that each contestant only received a $38 daily stipend to buy food while Banks reportedly <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/celebrity\/articles\/tyra-banks-accused-paying-antm-165141468.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAApwCwcwkytP2cctdWpV8IrALu5-X8FK1x_iJgeh6SMroQ4T7vL3d0Ci-5ATL3ucazPsvvbNTNg9cE-C_wmAkNgpT8Cq3wMWVnUVevYKw5KN-LbAM-lrlG7pqBegxA8naBpUqBEhcQR_S90Hyds1vbgp37PVd9gL5AD41OlB_EqR\"><span>took home millions<\/span><\/a><span>. In 2021, former contestant Sarah Hartshorne spoke out about conditions on the show. \u201cProduction kept us in the dark about almost everything because they wanted to keep us on edge,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/12\/01\/antm-alum-exposes-tyra-banks-claims-she-underpaid-models\/\"><span>she said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cUs being confused, tired, stressed, sleep-deprived and hungry just made for better TV.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The closest the series gets to a <\/span><em><span>mea culpa <\/span><\/em><span>is in discussing Shandi Sullivan, the season two contestant who left <\/span><em><span>ANTM<\/span><\/em><span> following her sexual assault during a trip to Milan. The then-19-year-old describes production setting the girls up on wine-and-dinner dates at their shared accommodation with a group of local men, and being too inebriated to consent or even feel it when she \u201cknew [sex] was happening\u201d to her. Production not only continued filming while the assault was taking place, but spun Sullivan\u2019s assault as a cheating scandal in the edit (going as far as naming the episode \u201cThe Girl Who Cheated\u201d) and wouldn\u2019t allow her access to a phone in the aftermath of the trauma. When questioned about the circumstances around \u201cShandi\u2019s story,\u201d executive producer Tyra Banks claims that production is \u201cnot [her] territory\u201d and defers to Ken Mok, who argues that intervening would have been a violation of their documentary\u2019s ethics.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"9b6c537b-2f80-4379-a6d8-b3fa011ce669\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438517.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.48\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tyra Banks ANTM\" class=\"img\" height=\"2031\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438517.jpg\" width=\"3000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Tyra Banks with season two contestants Yoanna House, Shandi Sullivan and <span class=\"nowrap\">Mercedes Scelba-Shorte<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography Frazer Harrison via <span class=\"nowrap\">Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>But while criticism of Mok and Banks\u2019 alleged exploitation has reached a fever pitch, there\u2019s every indication that, on a systematic level, the same 2000s attitudes remain in the fashion industry. In October, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vogue.com\/article\/the-vogue-business-spring-summer-2026-size-inclusivity-report\"><em>Vogue Business<\/em><\/a> reported that size inclusivity on catwalks \u201cremained minimal\u201d in the SS26 season, comprising 97.1 per cent straight-size models, two per cent mid-size and 0.9 per cent plus-size, noting a conservative culture shift linked to the spread of \u201cwhite supremacist ideas.\u201d The past week has also seen the manosphere-adjacent right-wing streamer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2026\/feb\/18\/foid-looksmaxxer-manosphere-influencer-braden-peters-aka-clavicular\">Clavicular<\/a> make his NYFW debut, and his deranged \u201clooksmaxxing\u201d technique involving injectables and a hammer immortalised in the pages of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/inside-claviculars-thirsty-tour-of-new-york-city\">GQ<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Fashion is and has always been rife with abusive characters, unpaid workers and impossible standards. It finds a bedfellow in reality TV, another woefully unregulated industry that preys on the aspirations of the working class. While there has been some <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/11\/arts\/television\/love-is-blind-nlrb-employees-union.html\"><span>legal recourse<\/span><\/a><span> regarding reality contestants\u2019 rights as employees in the context of <\/span><em><span>Love Is Blind <\/span><\/em><span>\u2013 which allegedly paid participants \u00a3250 per week for \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/tv-and-radio\/2023\/aug\/18\/we-wont-take-this-any-more-reality-tv-stars-battle-to-unionise\"><span>up to 20-hour days<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d \u2013 contemporary survival shows demonstrate that the behind-the-scenes desire to manufacture drama continues to take precedence over contestant wellbeing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Take the 2023 Netflix series <\/span><em><span>Popstar Academy: Katseye, <\/span><\/em><span>in which teen girls compete against each other over two years for a place in a six-person K-pop idol group. The contestants, some as young as 15, are trained by a dance instructor who behaves like a drill sergeant, and encouraged to push their bodies to the point of injury. At a certain point, production stops delegating mentors to inform them of their eliminations \u2013 the task is instead performed by an anonymous voice that plays out of a rotating splotch on a black screen \u2013 and the contestants all weep as their friends\u2019 dreams are dashed before their eyes. It\u2019s morally convenient to dismiss ANTM as a relic of the 00s, but some eerily similar practices still continue in television today.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cFashion is and has always been rife with abusive characters, unpaid workers and impossible standards. It finds a bedfellow in reality TV\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em><span>Reality Check: Inside America\u2019s Next Top Model<\/span><\/em><span> takes great pains to address the cultural value of what Tyra and her contemporaries were creating, and stresses the fact a show like <\/span><em><span>ANTM<\/span><\/em><span> had never been made before, as a kind of anticipatory defence. For the most part, the show seems to assert that the cruel and unusual conditions on<\/span><em><span> America\u2019s Next Top Model<\/span><\/em><span> were not conceived at the whim of its executive producers, but merely incidental to the workings of the fashion machine in the early 00s. <\/span><em><span>It was a different time<\/span><\/em><span>, <\/span><em><span>we didn\u2019t know any better<\/span><\/em><span>, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Also currently streaming on Netflix alongside <\/span><em><span>Reality Check<\/span><\/em><span> is <\/span><em><span>High &amp; Low: John Galliano<\/span><\/em><span>, a portrait of the once-disgraced British designer by Kevin Macdonald<\/span><em><span>.<\/span><\/em><span> Like the drunken anti-Semitic rant that begins the Galliano film, <\/span><em><span>Reality Check<\/span><\/em><span> introduces the viewer to its primary subject by showing them at their lowest point. In Banks\u2019 case, this is her much-memed outburst in 2005, in which she aggressively berates contestant Tiffany Richardson for a blas\u00e9 reaction to her own elimination. The effect of these fall-from-grace framings isn\u2019t exactly flattering, but structurally they allow their subjects to compartmentalise their misconduct as a blip in a grand narrative. Neither Galliano nor Banks is especially convincing in their contrition \u2013 and why would they be? Their industries have taught them there\u2019s really no need.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69718\/1\/americas-next-top-model-antm-tyra-banks-netflix-documentary&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/23-397-1983-1322\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438516.jpg&#8221;] Photography Frederick M. Brown via Getty Images February\u00a0 23,\u00a0 2026 Fashion \/ Opinion Fashion \/ Opinion Has the fashion industry really changed since America\u2019s Next Top Model? Netflix\u2019s three-part documentary hinges on the premise that Tyra Banks conceived ANTM during a cultural dark age \u2013 but Jenna Mahale argues that much of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1788272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1788272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788272\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1788272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1788272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1788272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}