Like so much of early 2000s pop culture, America’s Next Top Model has faced a harsh reevaluation in hindsight. And for good reason: not only did the show tend to promote toxic beauty standards to its audience, but series creator and host Tyra Banks tended to go to extreme lengths to keep her contestants on their toes.
Every so often, one of the more outrageous clips from the long-running reality show resurfaces and goes viral. Earlier this month, a compilation highlighting the “most appalling behavior on ANTM” went viral on TikTok, focusing on the experience of Robynne Manning, a contestant from the first cycle in 2003.
The compilation is quite devastating overall, as Tyra and her judges evaluate Manning’s potential as a “plus-size model.” (That descriptor would not be applied to Manning’s physique today.) Some of the worst comments come from former supermodel and judge Janice Dickinson, who can be seen saying, “Robynne’s out, as far as I’m concerned, about being a supermodel. That’s my humble opinion. I think that next America’s top model is not a plus-sized model, I’m sorry.” In another clip, Dickinson outright calls her “fat” and “huge.” In a later scene when Manning faced the judges, Dickinson snarked, “She should be working at Avis.”
On her own TikTok page on Wednesday, Dickinson replied to a comment asking if she regretted any of her harsh commentary during her ANTM days. “Um, no. It was acting. And that’s that,” Dickinson said dismissively. She added in the caption: “People forget that TV is acting.”
This is an obviously bullshit excuse, even if we accept that reality television does have its own version of “acting.” If a person is playing a character, they still accept some degree of responsibility for the things that come out of their mouth, particularly if that character is a “heightened” version of themselves. In a reality television setting, there’s a stronger implication that the people onscreen endorse the things they’re saying than in fiction. If Dickinson doesn’t agree with her past criticisms, she can say that—to say it was just “acting” is shirking accountability.
Even Banks owned up to some of the problematic elements of the show, however, in circumspect a way. In 2020, she tweeted, “Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you. Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs.” If Dickinson can’t so much as acknowledge the “off choices,” there’s a serious problem.