More Than Meets the Smize: A Look Inside Tyra Banks's Exploitative Empire
Emalie Marthe/Vice.com
Tyra Banks has rebranded herself as a trustworthy guide to your finances, but former employees, a financial expert, and a former "ANTM" contestant claim Banks is exploiting vulnerable young women.
Tyra Banks wants to be your boss. The 90s supermodel and 2000s camp icon has rebranded herself as a financial guru who wants to share her business acumen with young women trying to better their lives. Banks has long fashioned herself as the "relatable supermodel"—an A-lister who repeatedly referred her own "five-head" and implored the media to kiss her fat ***—and this fall she hopes to expand her brand across a variety of platforms: a new beauty venture called Tyra Beauty, which teaches girls how to become "beautytainers" who can sell Banks's makeup products to their communities; the final cycle of America's Next Top Model; and a new talk show called Tyra Presents FABLife.
With panelists like fellow "real" model Chrissy Teigen, interior designer Lauren Makk, YouTube celebrity Leah Ashley, and former Elle creative director Joe Zee, Banks's daytime show aims to help women improve their lives. The woman who once pretended to have rabies to scare her studio audience will now tell you how to live your best life. "I'm ready to come back and help share and inspire women to start their own businesses," Banks recently told New York magazine. "That's my passion, every day. I hunkered down and put my nose to the grindstone at Harvard Business School, learning more about the tools I needed to launch my business."
But Banks never attended Harvard Business School. She took a non-degree-granting certificate course at Harvard called the Owner/President Management program, which, as Jezebel points out, has "no formal educational requirements" and refers to students as "clients." Although media outlets have questioned Banks's presentation of her education, the model continues to describe herself as a Harvard-accredited businesswoman while encouraging young women to take her advice and buy her products. (The first Google result for "Tyra Banks University" is Harvard.)
Lying to get ahead, of course, isn't new for Banks. Several of Banks's new ventures follow suspect business practices, and Banks still faces the repercussions of professional mistakes she's made in the past.
Nobody knows this better than previous ANTM contestants. It's no secret few competitors go onto fame and fortune—past stars have been sent to prison, murdered, and dated Jim Carrey—but people watch the show to see naïve young girls battle for their dream. Whereas new Real Housewives purposefully create drama so they can launch liquor lines like Bethenny Frankel, most top models lack self-awareness or even a basic understanding of show business.
Cycle 17 winner Angelea Preston was one of these girls. Growing up in the inner city, she was a wide-eyed fan of all things Tyra, but following her appearances on the show, she's now she's suing Banks for the mistreatment she allegedly suffered during her time.
"Tyra exploits women, period," Preston says. "Once she gets out what she wants from you, then you're done to her. You're nothing. She preaches on TV that she's just like you, that she helps girls, but she doesn't help girls. She exploits them."
Growing up, Preston looked up to Banks. She competed on the show three times, enamored with Banks's relatable image. After almost making it into the house on her first season, she was accepted on her second try, quickly becoming a fan favorite for her humor and lack of filter. She cursed and called herself "classy ghetto." She lost, but still expected to find success as a model after the show. She says she quickly discovered the show robbed her of those opportunities.
"Nobody wanted to work with me after the show," Preston says. "I was labeled a b*tch and super ghetto, so when I would walk into agencies, a lot of them recognized me from the show. The show exploited my personality in such a negative way that it stopped my career from flourishing."
Desperate and unable to work, Preston says she took an "opportunity" that turned out to be an escorting job. When ANTM producers found out, Preston says, they offered her a spot on the show's All-Star cycle under the guise of being concerned about her well-being. She won her third cycle and the coveted Cover Girl contract. Months later, Angelea says, the CW called her back to New York for a full-scale intervention: The network had found out about her past as an escort, and despite the production's previous knowledge, they were stripping her of her title for violating a "morality clause."
"I think why they took it from me, is because it makes their show look like the crock of **** that is," Preston says. "If I had escorted before I came on the show, they would have used it to further exploit me. They would say, 'Hey, she was an escort, but we put her on America's Top Model, and we made her great.' But because it happened after, how could they say their show created such a great opportunity for me, when it didn't? It lead me into a path that I wasn't supposed to travel down, coming off a show like that."
Preston says other contestants endured similar experiences. She remembers producers denying girls food and water on long filming days to make them bitchy and confrontational. She says they were "put on ice," forbidden from talking when cameras weren't filming, spending hours in silence. One day, Preston recounts, an All-Star contestant led an uprising of models. The girls refused to work until they were provided with food. It worked in the moment, but Preston says the judges kicked the hero model off just a few episodes later, for suspect reasons.
"They didn't care about our health," Preston says. "I got sick overseas and had an anxiety attack [during the All-Star Cycle finale]. I was dizzy, I was throwing up, and it felt like it was taking forever for the nurse to come. I have asthma!"
According to Preston, producers filmed her health crisis. When she opened her eyes, she says she saw Banks sitting in front of her, asking if she was OK. Maybe she cares! Preston remembers thinking. Later, she says, she found out executive producer Ken Mok allegedly withheld treatment for better footage. "Tyra didn't give a ****," Preston says. "The whole time she was complaining, 'I just want to go back to my villa.'"
When I spoke to Preston, she delivered the signature attitude she was known for on the show, peppering her explanations with expletives, while remaining polite and surprisingly vulnerable. At one point, she burst into tears.
"They treated us like slaves," Preston wailed. "We were pretty slaves."
When I reached out to ANTM's representative for comment, they were initially receptive but then did not return emails. A few days later, I discovered why: After 22 cycles, the show had been canceled. Banks played the cancellation as a personal choice, tweeting at her followers:
Emalie Marthe/Vice.com
Tyra Banks has rebranded herself as a trustworthy guide to your finances, but former employees, a financial expert, and a former "ANTM" contestant claim Banks is exploiting vulnerable young women.
Tyra Banks wants to be your boss. The 90s supermodel and 2000s camp icon has rebranded herself as a financial guru who wants to share her business acumen with young women trying to better their lives. Banks has long fashioned herself as the "relatable supermodel"—an A-lister who repeatedly referred her own "five-head" and implored the media to kiss her fat ***—and this fall she hopes to expand her brand across a variety of platforms: a new beauty venture called Tyra Beauty, which teaches girls how to become "beautytainers" who can sell Banks's makeup products to their communities; the final cycle of America's Next Top Model; and a new talk show called Tyra Presents FABLife.
With panelists like fellow "real" model Chrissy Teigen, interior designer Lauren Makk, YouTube celebrity Leah Ashley, and former Elle creative director Joe Zee, Banks's daytime show aims to help women improve their lives. The woman who once pretended to have rabies to scare her studio audience will now tell you how to live your best life. "I'm ready to come back and help share and inspire women to start their own businesses," Banks recently told New York magazine. "That's my passion, every day. I hunkered down and put my nose to the grindstone at Harvard Business School, learning more about the tools I needed to launch my business."
But Banks never attended Harvard Business School. She took a non-degree-granting certificate course at Harvard called the Owner/President Management program, which, as Jezebel points out, has "no formal educational requirements" and refers to students as "clients." Although media outlets have questioned Banks's presentation of her education, the model continues to describe herself as a Harvard-accredited businesswoman while encouraging young women to take her advice and buy her products. (The first Google result for "Tyra Banks University" is Harvard.)
Lying to get ahead, of course, isn't new for Banks. Several of Banks's new ventures follow suspect business practices, and Banks still faces the repercussions of professional mistakes she's made in the past.
Nobody knows this better than previous ANTM contestants. It's no secret few competitors go onto fame and fortune—past stars have been sent to prison, murdered, and dated Jim Carrey—but people watch the show to see naïve young girls battle for their dream. Whereas new Real Housewives purposefully create drama so they can launch liquor lines like Bethenny Frankel, most top models lack self-awareness or even a basic understanding of show business.
Cycle 17 winner Angelea Preston was one of these girls. Growing up in the inner city, she was a wide-eyed fan of all things Tyra, but following her appearances on the show, she's now she's suing Banks for the mistreatment she allegedly suffered during her time.
"Tyra exploits women, period," Preston says. "Once she gets out what she wants from you, then you're done to her. You're nothing. She preaches on TV that she's just like you, that she helps girls, but she doesn't help girls. She exploits them."
Growing up, Preston looked up to Banks. She competed on the show three times, enamored with Banks's relatable image. After almost making it into the house on her first season, she was accepted on her second try, quickly becoming a fan favorite for her humor and lack of filter. She cursed and called herself "classy ghetto." She lost, but still expected to find success as a model after the show. She says she quickly discovered the show robbed her of those opportunities.
"Nobody wanted to work with me after the show," Preston says. "I was labeled a b*tch and super ghetto, so when I would walk into agencies, a lot of them recognized me from the show. The show exploited my personality in such a negative way that it stopped my career from flourishing."
Desperate and unable to work, Preston says she took an "opportunity" that turned out to be an escorting job. When ANTM producers found out, Preston says, they offered her a spot on the show's All-Star cycle under the guise of being concerned about her well-being. She won her third cycle and the coveted Cover Girl contract. Months later, Angelea says, the CW called her back to New York for a full-scale intervention: The network had found out about her past as an escort, and despite the production's previous knowledge, they were stripping her of her title for violating a "morality clause."
"I think why they took it from me, is because it makes their show look like the crock of **** that is," Preston says. "If I had escorted before I came on the show, they would have used it to further exploit me. They would say, 'Hey, she was an escort, but we put her on America's Top Model, and we made her great.' But because it happened after, how could they say their show created such a great opportunity for me, when it didn't? It lead me into a path that I wasn't supposed to travel down, coming off a show like that."
Preston says other contestants endured similar experiences. She remembers producers denying girls food and water on long filming days to make them bitchy and confrontational. She says they were "put on ice," forbidden from talking when cameras weren't filming, spending hours in silence. One day, Preston recounts, an All-Star contestant led an uprising of models. The girls refused to work until they were provided with food. It worked in the moment, but Preston says the judges kicked the hero model off just a few episodes later, for suspect reasons.
"They didn't care about our health," Preston says. "I got sick overseas and had an anxiety attack [during the All-Star Cycle finale]. I was dizzy, I was throwing up, and it felt like it was taking forever for the nurse to come. I have asthma!"
According to Preston, producers filmed her health crisis. When she opened her eyes, she says she saw Banks sitting in front of her, asking if she was OK. Maybe she cares! Preston remembers thinking. Later, she says, she found out executive producer Ken Mok allegedly withheld treatment for better footage. "Tyra didn't give a ****," Preston says. "The whole time she was complaining, 'I just want to go back to my villa.'"
When I spoke to Preston, she delivered the signature attitude she was known for on the show, peppering her explanations with expletives, while remaining polite and surprisingly vulnerable. At one point, she burst into tears.
"They treated us like slaves," Preston wailed. "We were pretty slaves."
When I reached out to ANTM's representative for comment, they were initially receptive but then did not return emails. A few days later, I discovered why: After 22 cycles, the show had been canceled. Banks played the cancellation as a personal choice, tweeting at her followers:
