<p id=”par-1_87″>Don’t be surprised if you <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/tyra-banks-jaw-dropping-transformation-returning-model.html/”>see more of Tyra Banks</a> in the coming months. The 51-year-old is putting her heels back on after a hiatus from the modeling industry. “I’m gonna do this,” she shared with <em>Essence</em> magazine leading up to their 2025 Black Women in Hollywood event. With a comeback comes accountability. Banks took the stage to receive the Luminary Spotlight award that evening. During her acceptable speech, she gave an explanation for <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/reality-tv/”>those unsavory moments</a> on <em><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/americas-next-top-model-fans-are-calling-out-all-of-tyra-banks-problematic-behavior-on-show.html/”>America’s Next Top Model</a></em> that haven’t aged so well.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-gorgeous-stars-turned-out-for-the-essence-black-women-in-hollywood-event”>Gorgeous stars turned out for the Essence Black Women in Hollywood event </h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Essence-Black-Women-in-Hollywood-Teyana-Taylor-Lori-Harvey-Ryan-Destiny.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Squishing together for a photo, Kat Graham, Lori Harvey, Teyana Taylor, Tyla, and Ryan Destiny smile at the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards” class=”wp-image-3783046″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Kat Graham, Lori Harvey, Teyana Taylor, Tyla, and Ryan Destiny at the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards | Leon Bennett/Getty Images for ESSENCE</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_72″><em>Essence</em> magazine hosts the annual Black Women in Hollywood event to honor and <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/lori-harvey-chloe-bailey-steal-spotlight-bold-green-white-ensembles.html/”>uplift Black women</a> in the entertainment industry. Since its inception in 2008, the event has recognized the achievements, contributions, and cultural impact of Black women in film, television, and media. The 2025 party featured a who’s who of Hollywood turning out in gorgeous looks and celebrating this year’s honorees, including Cynthia Erivo, Teyana Taylor, Marla Gibbs, and Raamla Mohamed.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Essence-Black-Women-in-Hollywood-Cynthia-Erivo.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Wearing a black gown, Cynthia Erivo smiles at cameras at the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards” class=”wp-image-3783043″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Cynthia Erivo at the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards on February 27, 2025 | Amy Sussman/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-3_93″>Erivo walked the red carpet before the ceremony in a voluminous black gown covered in layers of ruffles. <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DGnpjh4p9Ne/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Essence</a> asked the Wicked stars how she feels about making Black women and girls <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/wicked-cynthia-erivo-deeply-relates-elphaba-differences-odd-one-out.html/”>feel seen through Elphaba</a>. “It feels really wonderful to be a part of that conversation,” she responded. “I’m glad to be able to inspire that, and I’m looking forward to seeing what that brings into the world. I can’t wait to see how many fierce, fabulous women step out into the open as themselves. I just want everyone to keep going.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-tyra-banks-defends-america-s-next-top-model”>Tyra Banks defends ‘America’s Next Top Model’</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-3″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Essence-Black-Women-in-Hollywood-Tyra-Banks-mom.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Wearing a black gown, Tyra Banks smizes on the red carpet with her mom at the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards” class=”wp-image-3783050″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Tyra Banks and her mom, Carolyn London, at the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards | Amy Sussman/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-4_54″>The Black Women in Hollywood ceremony reached an emotional crescendo when Banks took the stage. The <em>Life-Size</em> actor announced her modeling comeback and thanked her lovely mom, Carolyn London, for always being there for her. <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/tyra-banks-attempted-music-career-during-america-next-top-model.html/”>Banks accepted</a> the first-ever Luminary Spotlight Award, which celebrates her work breaking barriers for Black women across entertainment and media.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-4″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Essence-Black-Women-in-Hollywood-Tyra-Banks.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Wearing a black gown, Tyra Banks smizes on the red carpet at the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards” class=”wp-image-3783044″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Tyra Banks on February 27, 2025 in Los Angeles | Leon Bennett/Getty Images for ESSENCE</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-5_91″>The trailblazing multi-hypenate acknowledged her fight to get Black women <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/americas-next-top-model-apparently-recruited-potential-contestants-myspace.html/”>more exposure on popular TV</a> via <em>America’s Next Top Model</em>, as <a href=”https://rollingout.com/2025/02/28/essence-black-women-award-celebration/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Rolling Out</a> reports. “We fought to bring diversity to that television show at a time when it didn’t exist, a time when people in the fashion industry were telling me, ‘Oh, you putting girls from the hood on your show?’” Banks stated. “Why can a girl from the trailer park become a supermodel, but the girl from the hood can’t?’ We fought, and we struggled, and we made it happen.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_69″>The modeling competition show, which aired for 24 seasons from 2003 to 2018, serves as a groundbreaking reality TV touchstone in an entertainment landscape that has changed significantly. Revisiting <em>ANTM</em> is both nostalgic and troubling. Banks and her team <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/americas-next-top-model-contestants-allegedly-told-ignore-others-drama.html/”>produced several unsavory moments</a> that would never air these days. The former <em>Dancing with the Stars</em> host responded to these controversies, often resurfacing on social media, in her acceptance speech.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-5″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Essence-Black-Women-in-Hollywood-Tyra-Banks-award.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Wearing a black gown, Tyra Banks, Luminary Spotlight honoree, speaks onstage during the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards” class=”wp-image-3783047″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Tyra Banks, Luminary Spotlight honoree, and Rechelle Dennis onstage | Leon Bennett/Getty Images for ESSENCE</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-7_80″>“Did we get it right? Hell no,” Banks said, adding that <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/tyra-banks-speaks-out-after-criticism-of-controversial-americas-next-top-model-moments.html/”>she said some “dumb” things</a>. “But I refuse to have my legacy be about some stuff linked together on the internet when there were 24 [seasons] of changing the world. We all evolve. We all get better together. And I’m so excited that I, and so many others, have opened that door for others to follow.” Banks added that bad edits online also contributed to the criticism she’s received.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-america-s-next-top-model-s-most-controversial-moments”>‘America’s Next Top Model’s most controversial moments</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-6″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Americas-Next-Top-Model-Tyra-Banks.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Creator and executive producer America’s Next Top Model Tyra Banks points at monitors while filming” class=”wp-image-3783042″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Tyra Banks, creator and producer of ‘America’s Next Top Model’ in 2003 | Bill Inoshita/CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-8_48″><em>ANTM</em> fans <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/antm-janice-dickinson-claims-tyra-banks-gave-shows-crew-mcdonalds-whoppers-christmas-presents.html/”>loved the reality show</a> for its creative photoshoots that often pushed contestants to the limits physically and emotionally. Most of these challenges were simply entertaining to watch. However, the Blackface and race-changing photoshoots rubbed many viewers the wrong way. Now, these challenges are simply appalling. </p>
<p id=”par-9_58″>In Cycle 4, production asked models to darken their skin to “transform” into different ethnicities. A similar concept returned in Cycle 13 when contestants were assigned mixed-race identities, which <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/eva-marcille-says-antm-alums-who-bash-tyra-banks-are-salty.html/”>many found offensive</a>. Another photoshoot, Cycle 19’s “dead model” challenge, made the models pose in various tragic ways — car crashes, poisoning, electrocution — later deemed tasteless and disturbing.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-7″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Americas-Next-Top-Model-Tyra-Banks-Tiffany-Richardson.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Side by side photos of ‘America’s Next Top Model’ contestant Tiffany Richardson and Tyra Banks” class=”wp-image-3783051″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Tiffany Richardson during judging on ‘America’s Next Top Model’; model Magdalena and Tyra Banks during an ‘ANTM’ scene in 2004 | Monty Brinton/CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images; David M. Russell/CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-10_70″>Tyra Banks herself delivered many of <em>America’s Next Top Model</em>‘s most controversial moments. One of the most humiliating moments in reality TV history involved her infamous “we were all rooting for you” meltdown directed at Cycle 4 contestant Tiffany Richardson. Banks often commented on models’ looks, insinuating they should lose weight (plus-size winner Whitney Thompson), close a tooth gap (Danielle Evans), or tone down “masculine energy (bisexual contestant Kim Stolz).</p>
<p id=”par-11_43″>Many contestants have spoken out <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/antm-former-contestant-says-models-were-paid-only-45-per-day-during-filming.html/”>about the show’s exploitative nature</a> and the lack of mental health support, especially during emotionally intense situations like the aforementioned photoshoots. <em>ANTM</em> winners have also revealed that the prized modeling contracts didn’t pan out as intended. </p>