The 1990s and early 2000s were a very different time when it came to entertainment, especially how women and people of color were treated on television.
An infamous example of this was the hit television show America's Next Top Model, which ran for 24 seasons. There have been stereotypes and distasteful jokes circulating forever about what it takes to be a model, most focusing on dietary restrictions and infidelity, but America's Next Top Model took that to an entirely different place.
There were issues throughout the show with how the contestants were treated, including fat-shaming, beauty-shaming, makeovers that involved surgical procedures, breaches of privacy, non-consensual touching and advances, and simply unsustainable and unhealthy lifestyle practices to maintain a certain weight and look.
Now, all of the controversies are coming to light with a new Netflix documentary called, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model.
Interestingly, though, the producers have Tyra Banks, who was the one to push the contestants past their comfort zones, at the helm, rather than the contestants who were impacted by questionable-at-best treatment, leading many to wonder how trustworthy the narrative of the documentary will even be.
The preview of the documentary opens with a flashback to Banks yelling at a contestant, before showing her in a studio chair in the present day, stating:
"I haven't really said much. But now it's time."
The preview initially shows women who were grateful for the opportunity to be on the show, thinking this would be their big break, but soon escalates into the reality of what they had walked into.
From believing they had "created a monster" to questioning "why were we filming this," it was clear that the production team felt that Banks had pushed the limits too far in the name of success and fashion.
Banks deflected:
"I knew I went too far. It was very, very intense."
"But you guys were demanding it."
You can watch the preview of the documentary here:
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Early reactions to the upcoming Reality Check were a mix of gratitude that these conditions are finally coming to light and challenging Banks for not taking full responsibility for her involvement.
What many viewers of America's Next Top Model and viewers-to-be of Reality Check wanted to know, though, was why more models weren't speaking up about their experiences on the show.
The first ANTM winner, Adrienne Curry, responded to these inquiries, claiming that she was not interested in participating, not just because she felt her words might be twisted, but because it was a different time.
Curry explained:
"I think people psychoanalyzing it over twenty years later with a woke lens is absurd."
"I don’t trust people to not manipulate things I say for TV, so I decline everything."
"Also, the public is cult-like and cruel, so the last thing I want is a bunch of eyeballs on me… I have [zero] trust in any producers, no desire to be really public in this day and age… and am hard retired from Hollywood.”
“It’s crazy that [photo shoot director Jay Manuel and runway coach J. Alexander] are acting like they can NOT believe the things Tyra was doing, but they were involved just the same. It’s a cover-up fest. Let ’em weave their webs.”
In an Instagram reel, Curry showed herself shaking her head "no" against a greenscreen capture of her tweeted decline to being involved in the documentary:
"No, guys. I don't do this s**t and won't be on it or anything else. Sorry. Hard retired. Hard pass."
Fellow Instagrammers applauded Curry for taking a stand and not participating.
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Others were critical of what they believed this documentary would turn out to be.
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Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model will appear in a three-part documentary series on Netflix, beginning on February 16, 2026.
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