9 Shocking ‘America’s Next Top Model’ Scandals Revisited in ‘Reality Check’ Doc

America’s Next Top Model had millennials in a chokehold when it first started airing in 2003. The show ran for 24 seasons before concluding in 2018. Since then, some audiences have been revisiting the show and noticing a lot of controversial moments that actually took place throughout the episodes.

Now, Netflix has brought Tyra Banks, Nigel Barker, J Alexander, and Jay Manuel, along with others who worked behind the scenes, back to reflect on ANTM in the new docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.

Below, we rounded up some of the biggest scandals and controversies from the show that were highlighted in the documentary.

‘She’s got a wide ass’

Season 1 contestant Giselle Samson was the victim of a lot of insults from both fellow contestants and the judges. She said it was “shocking” to see the show air for the first time because “it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.”

Samson explained, “In our confessionals, I could feel the push of producers trying to navigate us against each other.” Amid her reflection, footage of other girls making mean comments about her on the show played in the background, including one person saying, “You’re worthless. Your parents must be ashamed of you.”

Then, there were the judges, who discussed Samson’s photos in another scene. “She’s gotta tighten up,” someone said, while another added, “She’s got a wide ass,” and another judge agreed, “It’s kind of wide.”

Samson noted that, as an 18-year-old “growing into my body,” this deeply affected her. “They chose to put that in there,” Samson said. “How I left feeling about myself in that moment has stayed with me forever. Why does my ass have to be so wide? That’s how I talk to myself to this day.”

Racist behavior toward Ebony Haith

Ebony Haith, another Season 1 contestant, reflected on her ANTM makeover, which began with Banks telling her, “This little piece of hair right here? This extra little thing? Gone!” Haith said it was at this moment that she felt “the full disappointment” in the way she was “represented” on the show.

“I’m sitting there, and I have three of the top stylists over my head, laughing at my hair texture,” she recalled. “It was really just frustrating. People did not have the correct clippers. Everyone basically said they didn’t know what to do.” She also added, “They ended up giving me three bald spots. Very disappointing.”

Things only got worse when Banks called her later in the day. “I’m thinking that my sister is going to understand,” Haith admitted. “I thought she was going to say, ‘Girl, don’t worry, I’ll go to Harlem.’ And she says, ‘The judges have been talking to me, and they’ve been saying you’ve been showing up ashy every day.’ And I’m blown away.”

She continued, “I didn’t understand why they chose those specific words when this is a word that’s been used in history that’s made us feel less-than.” A clip played of Banks telling Haith, “With your skin texture, being an African American woman, it should be like butter. At the retouching session, your photo was the hardest we had to do.” That was when Haith began to realize she was being treated differently as a Black woman on the show.

When Haith started to work on moisturizing her skin to meet the judges’ standards, she then faced backlash from the other women on the show, who criticized her for the intense regimen. Throughout Haith’s time on the show, she was referred to as “harsh,” “aggressive,” and “angry.”

The Shandi scandal

During Season 2, Shandi Sullivan dealt with a major controversy that ended up affecting her life outside of the show. It happened when the contestants were in Italy and spent the day being transported around the city on the backs of local guys’ motorcycles. Producers then had the guys come back to the house to hang out with the ladies that night.

Sullivan, who had a boyfriend back home, remembered a night of drinking with the men. “I don’t think I had anything to eat at all or had any sleep,” she shared. “I remember getting in the hot tub. I remember April and Mercedes getting in the hot tub, and I just remember the guy looking at me, and I looked at him, and I was pretty drunk at that point. Everything after that is just a blur. I just remember him on top of me. I was blacked out. Nobody did anything to stop it, and it all got filmed.”

@cjsrtle8b5 #antm #throwbackshows #America#usa#americasnexttopmodel ♬ original sound – Elsa said the movie

The ANTM contestant said she was “wasted” and recalled probably having “two bottles of wine by myself.” Although she could only remember “bits and pieces” of the night, she continued, “I remember being in the shower. And then just sitting in the shower. And then we were in the bed. I was blacked out for a lot of it. I didn’t even feel sex happening, I just knew it was happening, and then I passed out.”

Cameras documented the situation, including Sullivan’s emotional response the next morning when she realized what had happened. Looking back, Sullivan said, “I think after getting out of the hot tub, and whatever happened after that, I think they should’ve been like, ‘All right, this has gone too far. We gotta pull her out of this.'”

Sullivan said producers wouldn’t give her a phone to call her boyfriend, Eric, but when she threatened to leave the show, a phone became available. However, she was forced to film the emotional conversation (it included Eric calling her a “f***ing b****”), as well as her awkward talk with the man she slept with, during which she had to ask about protection and STDs.

Meanwhile, Banks said in the doc that it’s “difficult” for her to talk about production because it’s “not [her] territory.” Executive producer Ken Mok said, “We treated Top Model as a documentary. We told the girls that on day one, when they would show up, ‘There’s going to be cameras with you 24/7, day in and day out, and they’re going to cover everything.'”

Sullivan and her boyfriend tried to make it work after filming but ultimately broke up.

Dani Evans and Joanie Dodds’ smile makeovers

Season 6 winner Dani Evans came to ANTM with a signature gap between her two front teeth. During the competition, Banks surprised her and Joanie Dodds (the eventual runner-up), who had a snaggletooth, with visits to the dentist.

Dodds was fine with fixing her smile, but recalled that she had to sign a release on the spot without talking to her mother or a lawyer first. The surgery ended up lasting all night and was extremely intense, with several teeth pulled and all of her front teeth shaved down.

@antmlatin0 El increíble cambio de Joanie #antm #cycle6 #americasnexttopmodel #supermodeloamericana ♬ sonido original – ANTM Latino

Dodds said the surgical procedure was done “just for beauty,” noting, “There were many orthodontic problems that weren’t ever fixed. I’ve still got a crazy bite issue, and those issues will never be resolved.”

Still, she had no regrets, which was not the same experience that Evans had. Evans made it clear to the dentist that she “loved” her gap and didn’t want to get rid of it. “That’s not your right to tell me what to do with my body,” Evans pointed out in the doc.

After she made the decision not to close the gap, Banks told her she was not “marketable,” and the judges threatened that she would be sent home if she didn’t have the surgery. “I decided to play the game, and I got my gap closed,” Evans said. “It’s my life, and it was toyed with, consciously. Me saying no and them going against that is invasive.”

Banks said she “apologized” to Evans and admitted, “That was between a rock and a hard place for me. Because there were agents that would tell me, ‘She will not work with those teeth. It’s not going to happen.’ That’s what they told me. I could’ve just been quiet and let them handle it, but hindsight is 20/20 for all of us.”

Twenty years later, Evans is still frustrated by the situation. “Me getting my gap closed is not opening any doors for me. You knew what you were doing for the show. You were making good TV at my expense.”

The crime scene photo shoot

There were plenty of outrageous photo shoots on the show, but perhaps most shocking of all was when the Season 8 models had to pose as crime scene victims. Contestant Dionne Walters had to pose as if she was shot in the head, despite producers knowing that her own mother had been shot and left paralyzed.

“They knew about it from the application process, but they still chose to have me do this particular photo shoot that involved gun violence,” Walters pointed out. “I thought it was a coincidence at the time, but I don’t think that it was. I think they wanted to see some type of mental breakdown or to see me crumble. I’m just glad they didn’t get the reaction they were hoping for.”

Mok took “full responsibility” for the shoot and admitted that it was a “mistake” to “celebrate violence” in that way.

Race-swapping photo shoot

Another absolutely asinine shoot required the girls to swap races during Season 4. The shoot was presented to the contestants as a way to show the power makeup has “to transform people,” but obviously, it was completely inappropriate.

@realitytvforuu how was this allowed #antm #americasnexttopmodel #americasnexttopmodelmoments #realitytv #antmclips #antmmoments #foryou #fyp #realitytvclips #throwbackshows #throwbackrealitytv #realitytvforuu #2005 ♬ original sound – reality tv & more❤️‍🔥

In addition to having their looks transformed, with some even sporting blackface, the models also had to hold 3-year-old children of the same race they were representing during the shoot. “I didn’t think it was controversial,” Banks admitted. “I was in my own little bubble, in my own little head. This was my way of showing the world that Brown and Black is beautiful.”

To make matters worse, the concept was done again nine cycles later in Season 13.

Other ridiculous photo shoots included making the girls dress up with dead animal carcasses, posing with live pigeons, taking pictures with dead fish, and dressing as homeless people. Even Banks could agree that some of the photo shoots took things too far. “Yeah, there’s some dumb s**t,” she said. “I’m like … ‘What the hell?'”

The weight debate

In general, weight was a major topic throughout each cycle of ANTM. Even though Banks was trying to show that not all models had to be stick skinny, she also pointed out that it was the standard in the fashion industry at the time. Many of the models have admitted to having eating disorders while filming Top Model.

“I’m a big fat ass,” one contestant said, while eating nothing but a pickle for lunch. “It was very common to live on Diet Coke and cigarettes,” Season 10 winner Whitney Thompson revealed.

Keenyah Hill, a Season 4 contestant, was specifically called out for her weight on the show. During a photo shoot where the girls were meant to represent the seven deadly sins, she was noticeably tasked with gluttony.

Janice Dickinson, who made countless horrific comments about models’ weight during her time as a judge, called Hill’s photo shoot “piggy chic,” and another judge said she looked “dumpy.” Hill was then chosen to be an elephant during an animal photo shoot, and at that point, she said she knew it was intentional.

Cameras zoomed in on Hill’s bare stomach throughout the shoot, Dickinson called her out for her “gut,” and Banks made sure to note that “a lot of retouching” had to be done on her photo. Hill said the show was edited to make it look like she was eating more than she actually was, which she admitted was “damaging.”

Thompson, a “plus-size” model, recalled that her size was often not available during photo shoots and go-sees. “It just makes you feel like s***,” she shared. “It’s just demeaning.”

Harassment on set

Hill was also the victim of harassment during a photo shoot in Africa, during which three male models were brought in to dance around the contestants. She recalled one of the models, Bertini, “aggressively hitting” on her.

“Bertini was touching me, grabbing me,” Hill said, noting that he was wearing nothing but a “teeny-tiny piece of loincloth” during the shoot. Hill stopped the shoot and mentioned she was feeling “uncomfortable,” but was met with an exasperated response from others on the set. “To be on a TV set in front of so many people and still not be protected is some pretty dark stuff,” Hill pointed out.

When she met with the judges, the photo that was chosen showed Bertini “literally grabbing [her] legs” on-camera. “The receipts are right here,” Hill said. “It’s wild that that got past however many people it got past.”

At the time, Banks urged Hill to use her “feminine wiles” and lightheartedly ask men to “back off” if they made her uncomfortable on a set. Looking back, though, she admitted she was wrong, acknowledged that women need to feel safe and protected, and apologized to Hill.

‘I was rooting for you!’

The most viral moment to come out of ANTM is the meme of Banks screaming, “I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you! How dare you!” to Tiffany Richardson. Richardson first auditioned in Season 3 but did not make it onto the show because she got into a fight at the bar. She “got the help she needed,” according to Banks, and returned as a frontrunner in Season 4.

@calabasaswings #tyrabanks #tiffany #americasnexttopmodel #antm #scream #yell ♬ original sound – Calabasaswings

However, everything fell apart when the girls were tasked with reading difficult designer names on a teleprompter. Everyone struggled, but Richardson did not even want to complete the task. Banks urged her to “have fun with it” and “use your personality,” noting that the other girls also goofed up many of the names. “If you don’t do this, you’re going home,” she warned.

For the first time, Banks sent two contestants home at that elimination, including Richardson. When Banks saw Richardson laugh after the news was announced, it set her off. She let Richardson know she was “disappointed” in her before exploding into the now-viral “I was rooting for you!” moment.

It turns out, what really happened was even worse than what we saw on TV. “There was a lot more that was really said,” Jay Manuel shared. “Some of the things that were said were really not well-intentioned. I will probably never repeat the lines that were said in the room that day.”

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, Streaming Now, Netflix