Tiffany Richardson accuses Tyra Banks of bullying her behind the scenes, despite Banks’ apology in Netflix docuseries.
Editing of the original confrontation allegedly hid the extent of Banks’ harsh comments towards Richardson.
Richardson demands a face-to-face meeting with Banks to address the long-lasting impact of the incident.
America’s Next Top Model alum Tiffany Richardson is going in on Tyra Banks after the show’s creator apologized over their insanely viral moment on the show. Her apology came in Netflix’s new docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.
While being eliminated from the show alongside another contestant, Rebecca Epley, Richardson wasn’t as visibly upset by the moment. While Epley cried, Richardson, didn’t, which clearly got to Tyra.
“Rebecca, I admire your emotion right now. It shows to me that this was something that’s very important to you,” Banks said, before turning to Richardson. “Tiffany, I’m extremely disappointed in you. This is a joke to you. … This is serious to these girls, and it should be serious to you.”
As the moment became more heated, Banks and Richardson began talking over each other as they tried to explain themselves, which drove Banks to become completely unhinged.
“I have never in my life yelled at a girl like this. When my mother yells like this, it’s because she loves me.” she screamed, leading into her now-infamous sound byte. “I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!”
In the new docuseries, Banks admitted she went “too far”–but her apology wasn’t enough for Tiffany. In a now-deleted post, Richardson slammed the show’s creator in a lengthy caption, calling her a liar and a bully.
“Hold up @tyrabanks let’s keep it cute. you are 1 lying a** tied a** b***h,” She began in her post.
“You know how you treated me the whole time off and on camera, YOU WAS A BULLY!!!” she continued. “You treated me like s**t and said the nastiest things about me and my son. That is not how the argument went but YALL EDITED TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE YOU CARED…”
She then set her sights on others who wronged her, writing: “Also F**K @theshaderoom F**K YO WERID A– FANS AND F— YOU @tyrabanks I BET YOU WONT SIT DOWN WITH ME FACE TO FACE AND TALK ABOUT IT!!! Also F— MY FAMILY TOO 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 yall don’t ever defend me, I got more money and helping more people than all or many of the top models but that’s the update yall give 🙄 da*n shame.. it’s giving yall still hating on lil black a** me. @tyrabanks h*e just let it go, ITS BEEN OVER 20 years 😭.”
In the docuseries, Tyra said she “went too far” with Richardson, admitting that she “lost it” on her during the heated moment.
“It was probably bigger than her. It was family, friends, society, Black girls, all the challenges that we have,” Banks said. “So many people saying that we’re not good enough. I think all that was in that moment. That’s some Black girl stuff that goes real deep inside of me, but I knew I went too far.”
The show’s creative director, Jay Manuel, called the situation “the most difficult moment on set I had ever experienced.”
Manuel also seemed to confirm that the editing claims were true, saying, “There was a lot more that was really said. And some of the things that were said, were really not well-intentioned. I’ll probably never repeat the lines that were said in that room, that day.”
In an interview with Buzzfeed last month, Richardson opened up about her time on the show, insisting that what happened in real life was actually a lot worse than what the show portrayed.
Tiffany says the infamous argument was “1,000 times worse” in reality, recalling Banks yelling at her and saying, “You can go back to your house and sleep on your mattress on the floor with your baby.”
While Richardson wouldn’t reveal further information about what may have been cut from Banks’ tirade, that particular comment, she said, “stayed in the back of my mind.”
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