Tyra Banks Reflected On Her Complicated ANTM Legacy

In the nearly seven years since America’s Next Top Model aired its last episode, the Tyra Banks-created reality show has remained an evergreen subject of analysis and controversy. And Banks herself knows it. When the supermodel-turned-ANTM host recently accepted Essence’s Luminary Spotlight Award, she acknowledged the internet criticism while celebrating her legacy.

Tyra’s Acceptance Speech

Essence’s Black Women in Hollywood Awards took place on Feb. 27 before streaming on YouTube on March 3. Midway through, Banks accepted the first-ever Luminary Spotlight Award and spoke about her impact on the fashion world and beyond.

“I have dedicated my life to expanding the definition of beauty,” Banks said. “Over 20 years ago, I created a television show called America’s Next Top Model. And I fought ... you guys have no idea how hard we fought to bring the diversity to that television show at a time where it didn’t exist.’”

Banks said she received pushback from people in the fashion industry who didn’t like that she was “putting the girls in the ’hood” on her show. “I was like, ‘Why can the girl from a trailer park become a supermodel, but the girl that’s chilling in the park in the ’hood can’t?’” she said.

As she celebrated that they “made it happen,” she acknowledged there were missteps along the way. “Did we get it right? Hell no, I said some dumb sh*t,” she said. “But I refuse to have my legacy be about some stuff linked together on the internet when there were 24 cycles of changing the world.”

Reexamining ANTM

There has indeed been a lot of online criticism for both Banks and America’s Next Top Model over the years. Fans have revisited the show and pointed out problematic comments, such as weight-shaming and racial insensitivity. Former contestants have also spoken out, including in a 2022 Business Insider exposé in which several claimed they were exploited emotionally and put in potentially unsafe situations for ratings. (Banks declined to comment on the report at the time.)

Banks has addressed elements of the criticism in the past. In a 2020 appearance on the Tamron Hall Show, for example, she described the challenge of trying to break barriers within an industry with such strict rules and called it an “awful push and pull.” She added that they “did a whole bunch of things” that she now feels were “wrong,” including telling contestants they must change certain aspects of their appearance.

Banks reiterated that sentiment in her March 2025 cover interview for Essence. “There’s so many things that we would change,” she said, going on to add, “There were things on Top Model that we did, and I’m like, ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’ Y’all let me know that was whack.”