Tyra Banks Responds to Backlash Against America's Next Top Model with Speech: "Did We Get It Right?"

Tyra Banks addressed some long-standing criticisms about America's Next Top Model, emphasising her unwavering belief that the show's history is one of diversity and inclusivity.
Banks was the first-ever Luminary Spotlight honoree at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards, held in Los Angeles on February 27. During her award speech, the runway modelling legend revealed that she did not always get everything right throughout the show's 24 seasons. However, she stated that she had been advocating for onscreen diversity long before it became a popular topic.
"Over 20 years ago, I created a show called America's Next Top Model," Banks, 51, explained. "And you have no idea how hard we fought to bring diversity to that television show when it didn't even exist; to show different beauties when the world was like, 'What?'" Are you casting that? People in the fashion world used to tell me, 'You're putting the girls from the hood on your show?' "
"I was thinking, 'Why can the girl from the caravan park become a supermodel but the girl that's chilin' in the park in the hood can't?'' she wrote. "And we fought and we struggled and we made it happen."
She then appeared to address recent criticism of the show, which launched on UPN in 2003.
"Did we get it correct? Hell no. "I said some dumb s---," she remarked, prompting laughter from the audience. "But I refuse to leave a legacy of material linked together on the Internet when there were 24 cycles of transforming the world. And I'm overjoyed that I, and so many of us, have opened the way for others to follow."
"And now my 51-year-old, dimpled, cellulite-covered bigger tummy and 10 million times bigger titties is walking through that door that I opened with all of us behind us on that runway saying, 'Baby, it's just the beginning,'" she told the crowd.
Several old segments from the series surfaced online in 2020, sparking a barrage of criticism directed at both Banks and the show's creative staff. One clip showed Banks urging a candidate to "fix" a gap in her teeth, while another featured the now-controversial "race swapping" competition, in which some contestants modelled in "black face."

Banks responded to the outcry on Twitter (now X) at the time, stating, "I've been seeing tweets regarding the insensitivity of certain former ANTM situations and agree with you. Looking back, those were some extremely bad decisions. I appreciate your honest criticism and am sending you a lot of love and virtual hugs," according to CNN.