Top 20 America's Next Top Model Scandals & Controversies

#20: Clashing Co-Stars

Various

In the years since the show ended, some of Top Model’s mentors and judges have come forward with less than kind stories about host and executive producer Tyra Banks. As early as 2009, former supermodel judge Paulina Porizkova was telling tales about the host’s on-set behavior. Porizkova alleged that Banks would be as late as six hours to set some days. Everyone was just expected to wait. Supermodel and former co-star Janice Dickinson corroborated this. Creative director Jay Manuel detailed his deteriorating relationship with Banks after he left the show to pursue other opportunities. While the judges on Top Model were known for their harsh and often cold critiques, it seems things were just as frosty behind the scenes.

#19: The Unhoused Photoshoot

Cycle 10 (2008)

When ANTM received a spike in popularity during the early COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it also invited renewed interest in the show’s more controversial moments. One that people could not believe was Cycle 10’s unhoused-themed photoshoot. Contestants were dressed down in disheveled clothes while their unhoused partners were made to model in the more expensive garments. Times were different, but it’s hard to imagine this being okay ever. It wasn’t all bad, though. The photoshoot did introduce model and transgender activist Isis King to the Top Model fold. At the time, King was sleeping at a shelter, but off the back of her work as an extra, she would go on to become a contestant on two future seasons.

#18: Nyle DiMarco’s Photoshoot in Darkness

Cycle 22 (2015)

Although he won one of Top Model's coed seasons, this boundary-breaking male model didn’t sail through the competition. Nyle DiMarco landed in the bottom of this episode because he wouldn’t listen to the photoshoot director’s instructions. The only problem is the photoshoot was in pitch darkness, and DiMarco is Deaf. The director could only give him audio commands. Where the other contestants can rely on their sense of hearing to get through the challenge, DiMarco obviously can’t. In another cycle, this challenge might have made sense. But in the season with the franchise’s first Deaf contestant, it reads as either careless or cruel.

#17: Ann Ward’s Waist Size

Cycle 15 (2010)

The champion of the show’s 15th season became controversial almost immediately, through no fault of her own. From the moment the previews for Cycle 15 aired, Ward’s waist size became a lightning rod for controversy. A clip showing judge J. Alexander grabbing Ward’s waist to demonstrate its thinness inspired torrents of commentary. Top Model's record on body image was not exactly untarnished at this point. But this blatant showcase of what the show’s judges were presumably looking for didn’t do much to improve it. The show only doubled down on this body standard by later awarding the contestant the season’s title.

#16: Jael Strauss’s Disastrous Makeover

Cycle 8 (2007)

Each season, Tyra Banks puts her modeling hopefuls through an often rigorous and even painful makeover process. Sometimes, there are tears of joy. Other times, there are just tears. But sometimes, the show goes a little too far. In Cycle 6, two models were encouraged to undergo extensive and painful dental work to fit Banks’ vision for them. However, Cycle 8’s Jael Strauss may have had one of the worst experiences. Not only was she horrified to have her hair chopped off, but she had to sit through an 8-hour installation process for a new sew-in weave. It was all for nought. The weave was taken out because it didn’t look good, and Strauss ultimately was put through the ordeal for nothing.

#15: Keenyah Hill’s Harassment

Cycle 4 (2005)

In one of the more upsetting on-set incidents in the franchise’s history, Cycle 4 finalist Keenyah Hill experienced harassment on a photoshoot in South Africa. Male model Bertini Heumegni got too close for comfort. When Hill stopped the shoot, creative director Jay Manuel stepped in minimally. He only reminded Hill that she was being unprofessional. During the judging segment, Tyra Banks just told Hill that she should use her feminine wiles to avoid unwanted attention from men on a set. Ultimately, it was an instance where a contestant wasn’t protected the way they should have been.

#14: The First Top Model Never Got Her Prizes

Cycle 1 (2003)

A few years after she won the Top Model cycle, the very first crowned champion revealed her major beef with the show. Adrianne Curry-Rhode claimed that the show never gave her the prizes promised. She even alleges that Tyra Banks promised the first season’s cast a major cosmetics campaign that never came through and wasn’t even mentioned once the show aired. In fact, Curry-Rhode has further explained that she was sabotaged by behind-the-scenes tensions between ANTM and the modeling agencies they had contracted with. She’s been a vocal critic of Banks, the show, and Top Model fans ever since.

#13: Jaeda’s Male Model Insults Her to Her Face

Cycle 7 (2006)

When they need to add some drama to the photoshoots, Top Model often throws male models and scene partners into the mix. Unfortunately, the drama that results is often pretty uncomfortable. In Cycle 7, Jaeda Young and her castmates filmed commercials with male models in Barcelona. One of these models, Nacho, told Jaeda he would have trouble posing with her because he was not interested in black women. Not only was it a tremendously upsetting instance of racism, it was deeply unprofessional. But the judges blamed Jaeda for it, citing her commercial as the weakest and eliminating her.

#12: Isis King’s Mistreatment

Cycle 11 (2008)

Tyra Banks herself pursued this two-time contestant after she appeared in a photoshoot the season before. Isis King didn’t go into her season with the intention of foregrounding her trans identity. Like the rest of her competitors, she just wanted to win. Unfortunately, once King’s castmates found out she was a trans woman, it unleashed a torrent of ignorant comments. Many of the contestants were not only unsympathetic, they were downright insensitive about it. King faced transphobic mistreatment from several of the other models. Since her time on Top Model, she’s maintained her place as a trailblazer in the modeling and entertainment industries.

#11: Kayla Ferrel’s Discomfort with a Male Model

Cycle 15 (2010)

Reality TV often purports to be a social experiment as much as a competition. People’s very real traumas are often put on full display without trained professionals to help them through it. That was the case during a Cycle 15 photoshoot. Kayla Ferrel was reduced to tears during a photoshoot that required the models to get intimately close to a male model. Ferrel explains to Jay Manuel that her reaction stems from an incident from her past that made the challenge exceptionally difficult if not retraumatizing. Manuel’s not a therapist, but he plays one for the moment, just to get her to go through with a potentially damaging photoshoot. One thing’s for sure, this isn’t the moment of healing the producers want us to think.

#10: The Swimming Pool Shoot That Caused Hypothermia

Cycle 7 (2006)

The ANTM judges have always stressed that it is a model’s job to push through the pain. But what happens when pushing through pain literally threatens your life? In Cycle 7, models were asked to pose in a freezing cold pool for a floating water nymph photoshoot. This shoot tested not only their modelling capabilities, but also how well their body could handle extreme temperatures. Because putting yourself in danger is what modelling’s all about, right? As it turned out, CariDee actually developed hypothermia after being told to push through the photoshoot. To make matters worse, the judges told her she had to know her limits and practically blamed her for putting her health at risk. Not cool.

#9: Kahlen Posed in a Casket After Her Friend Passed Away

Cycle 4 (2005)

ANTM audiences loved the sweet and kindhearted Kahlen on Cycle 4, which is why this controversial moment was even harder to stomach. Kahlen received the news that a close friend had passed away whilst she was on the show, and to make matters worse, the theme for the photoshoot that day was especially triggering. The models each had to represent one of the seven deadly sins, posing in a casket eight feet underground. Being forced to jump into a coffin on the same day she discovered her friend had died was downright cruel, but as she was representing Wrath, Kahlen managed to put her anger at the situation to good use, getting a great shot and avoiding the wrath of the judges.

#8: Models Posed with Blackface

Cycle 4 (2005) & Cycle 13 (2009)

Sure, Tyra’s never been afraid of edgy photoshoots – but do you remember when she literally put models in blackface, twice? Girls were dressed and painted to represent other races in Cycle 4’s Got Milk? photoshoot, where Miss J told the girls they had to take on the persona of these ethnicities – whatever that means. Then, in Cycle 13, race bending was the theme once again for a bi-racial themed shoot. White models were put in makeup to make them appear darker, and were dressed in stereotypical fashion garments and accessories, making for some pretty problematic pictures. After this concept sparked controversy, Tyra apologized for any offense caused on her talk show, but by then the scandal had already stung.

#7: Yu Tsai Kept Calling Chantelle a Panda

Cycle 21 (2014)

Having the first contestant with vitiligo on the show was a big thumbs up for representation. Unfortunately, the inappropriate behavior of Yu Tsai reminded us why representation like this is still so important. Not only did he give Chantelle the nickname Panda based on the color of her skin, he threw a tantrum when she politely asked him to stop. She reasoned that impressionable viewers may see this behavior as justification for calling people names based on their skin color, which is clearly not okay. Instead of immediately apologizing and moving on, Yu Tsai told her he gave her the nickname to help her, that it was never insulting, and that she no longer deserved the nickname. Yikes!

#6: Angelea Preston Lost Her Crown & Sued ANTM

Cycle 17 (2011)

Angelea was a shining example of how sheer determination can get you what you want in life, which is what made this scandalous moment even more painful for her fans. After just missing out on the final two in Cycle 14, the Buffalo beauty was a strong competitor throughout the All Stars series. She reached the final three once again before being suddenly disqualified in an awkward finale episode, leaving audiences confused. It later emerged that Angelea had previously worked as an escort, going against a stipulation set out in the contract. Angelea disagreed with the action taken and ended up suing the show for $3 million, claiming the show knew the information already, and only decided to disqualify her after she got the crown.

#5: Shandi Cheated & Confessed

Cycle 2 (2004)

The early ANTM seasons gave us some super scandalous moments, but this Cycle 2 incident was certainly the first of its kind. Shy and sensitive Shandi shocked audiences when she cheated on her long-term boyfriend with a sexy male model, after a steamy night in the Jacuzzi got out of hand. What was just as shocking, however, was how producers aired her heartbreaking phone call confession. Fans winced watching Shandi fall apart as her boyfriend sobbed on the phone, and we wondered whether we really needed an Access All Areas pass to this girl’s private and personal life at all.

#4: The Models Trashed Their House

Cycle 10 (2008)

The Cycle 10 girls certainly settled into their raucous celebrity lifestyle easily! Whilst the cycle was airing, it was reported that the models had caused $500,000 worth of damage to the swanky Tribeca loft they were living in during the competition. According to an insider, the landlord complained of food stains on the $20,000 white drapes, holes in the ceiling and walls, a destroyed $15,000 chandelier and a ruined Brazilian wood floor. To make matters worse, producers had apparently assured the landlord any damage would be minimal. The damage was never shown or even mentioned on the show, and the matter was brushed under the carpet pretty swiftly by Top Model producers.

#3: Lisa D'Amato

Cycle 5 (2005)

Lisa went from peeing in a diaper at a photoshoot, to winning the All Stars season of Top Model, but what happened in between was a struggle for this Cycle 5 wild child. During her initial stint on the show, Lisa was known to enjoy a drink or two, and her manic behavior did not go unnoticed by her fellow competitors. After the show, Lisa struggled with substance use disorder and appeared on the third series of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. After being accused of being in denial about her problem by Dr. Drew, Lisa turned her life around and went on to be crowned winner of the All Star cycle. Talk about a redemption story!

#2: Tyra Shouted at Tiffany

Cycle 4 (2005)

Now a fully-fledged meme in its own right, the We Were All Rooting for You speech was the angriest we’ve ever seen Tyra on the show. After Tiffany laughed and joked her way through her goodbyes when being eliminated, Tyra called her back to berate her for not taking her place in the competition seriously. Tiffany has since said that the iconic speech was actually way worse in reality, with Tyra telling Tiffany you can go back to your house and sleep on your mattress on the floor with your baby. Speaking to BuzzFeed about Tyra in 2017, Tiffany said I didn’t think she cared, leaving the momma Tyra image somewhat in tatters.

#1: Renee Alway Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

Cycle 8 (2007)

Cocky, competitive, and never afraid to speak her mind, Renee had a reputation on Cycle 8 for being the villain of the season. She was a strong competitor, however, achieving a respectable third place, with a ton of potential for her future career. Unfortunately, debilitating substance use problems meant that her life took a turn for the worse after the show. Renee was arrested for multiple offenses including drug possession, burglary, and fraud in 2013, after a six-hour stand-off with police. Fans were shaken by her altered appearance in her prison interview, as well as her controversial revelation that the after-show support from Top Model was practically non-existent. Now that’s definitely not so fierce.

Did this list make you think differently about Top Model? Tell us in the comments.