Tyra Banks is Back on Top

The seasoned reality TV pro took on a new role this year when she replaced Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrew as the host of Dancing With The Stars. While her appointment received some backlash on social media from die-hard fans of Bergeron’s 15 years with the show, that didn’t phase Banks. “It’s just so wonderful to have her energy in the ballroom and her expertise as a host,” said executive producer Andrew Llinares. Banks brought her A-game, and a wardrobe to match. For Icons Week, Banks paid homage to J.Lo’s famous jungle-print Versace dress, instantly going viral.

With America’s Next Top Model now streaming on Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, millennials and Gen Z members across the country are reliving their childhoods or even discovering the wild, chaotic show for the first time. Originally, Banks wanted to write and direct a scripted television show, she told the New York Times, but pivoted to reality TV and created ANTM because of “the pain of being told you’re too Black, too curvy, not cookie cutter enough.” Banks wanted to cast “atypical beauties” and show how women with many different looks could succeed as models. However, many who rewatched the show this year noticed a pattern of problematic behavior from Banks. Despite her mission, she often upheld hypercritical beauty standards, criticizing one contestant’s gapped teeth or telling others they needed to lose weight. Plus, specific photoshoots, even if possibly well-intentioned, now read as tone deaf and the host often manipulated or deceived contestants, like the time she pretended to faint. Banks herself has admitted that she “made some really off choices” on the show, and thanked people for their “honest feedback” and critiques. Although the series wrapped in 2018, it still remains a favorite show to love-hate. 

Both Banks and Naomi Campbell are among the most iconic supermodels in recent memory, but the two have famously feuded. They were often pitted against each other by casting agents, designers, and other industry insiders who made it clear that they believed there was only room for one Black supermodel. In the early ‘90s some designers actually refused to book any Black models at all. Both Banks and Campbell joined Iman and Bethann Hardison to form the Black Girls Coalition and hosted a press conference highlighting and protesting designers who only cast white models. However, the high fashion world did not fully hear the Coalition's message, and many continued comparing the models, implying that Banks needed to unseat Campbell to be successful. Behind the scenes, Campbell supposedly worked to ensure she and Banks did not book the same shows or campaigns, leaving the younger model feeling bullied and intimidated.

The two hashed it out on The Tyra Banks Show for almost 40 minutes in 2005, speaking openly and honestly about their disagreements and misunderstandings. The emotional interview was clearly challenging for Banks, who even admitted to feeling scared, but it also helped place accountability for the feud on the factors most responsible for creating it: not the two models themselves but the modeling industry’s racism. Recently, however, Campbell seems to have broken the 2005 truce, sharing a story critical of Banks to her Instagram stories. 

In 2019, a 45-year-old Tyra Banks landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s famous Swimsuit Edition, becoming the oldest model to do so. It was her third historic cover with the magazine, the first being shared with Valeria Mazza in 1996, and the most notable coming a year later in 1997 when Banks became the first Black model to earn a solo cover. In the model’s own words, it was huge. “You have to think back to remember what that did for an appreciation of Black beauty to have a Black girl, a girl next door type, on the cover of one of the most mass mainstream magazines of our lives. It was a societal statement, a political statement and an economic one,” she said. 

Banks' latest SI cover marked her return to modeling after she retired in 2005. To signify her rebirth, the figure announced that she would be going by the name Banx in the modeling world. She told Sports Illustrated the X represents, "X-ing out cookie-cutter beauty."

“When my mother yells like this, it’s because she loves me. I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!” may just be Banks’ most famous quote. The TV host screamed the now-infamous phrase at model Tiffany Richardson after she failed to show, in Banks' eyes, proper sadness at being eliminated from ANTM. The moment remains a painful memory for Richardson, and Banks has publicly said if she could go back in time she would not repeat her actions. The moment, however, went down in pop culture history. First, Banks' diatribe was recreated in fan art and spoofed on Family Guy. Sounbites circulated on Vine, and GIFs will forever live on Reddit and Twitter, making the moment a meme in its own right. Though Banks unloaded on Richardson’ back in ANTM’s Season Four, the viral moment remains relevant today. 

Banks is launching ModelLand, a self-described “first-of-its-kind, story-driven” fashion and modelling attraction in Santa Monica. Visitors can purchase tickets to visit ModelLand to observe or even participate in theatre productions, fashion shows, photo shoots and more. According to the attraction’s website, ModelLand hopes to help visitors reimagine what it means to be ‘attractive’ in today’s world. The destination was founded on the idea of helping “[people of] all shapes AND all sizes AND all ages AND all shades deserve to feel beautiful, powerful, and experience the fantasy version of themselves,” the ModelLand website explains. “When you step into ModelLand, you enter a fantastical world where we will celebrate your uniqueness while we help you masters your angles and up your photo game.” Though the exact concept remains unclear, a trip to ModelLand would be worth it if it gave visitors even a sliver of Tyra Tyra’s famous self-love and confidence. 

Who could have predicted Banks’ latest endeavor: Smize Cream, a model-themed sweet dessert available for purchase early next year. Smize–a term Banks coined on ANTM in 2009–means to smile with your eyes, and the entertainer hopes her delicious new product brings joy to all. Each serving includes a hidden "Smize Prize," which the company describes as "a luxurious, chunk-a-licious, rich, delectable, sweet truffle treat." For the model, eating dessert is an important part of staying healthy. “Yes, we should exercise [and] take our vitamins,” she said. “But sometimes we can give ourselves permissions to work out with a scoop of frozen deliciousness in our hands.” Smize’s first flavor will be the salty-sweet Breakfast All Day loaded with waffle pieces, maple syrup, and vegetarian bacon.