Was Tyra Banks the Villain? Or Were We?

A fashion insider and two culture writers dissect “America’s Next Top Model.”

By Jessica GroseNadja Spiegelman and Kendall Werts

Produced by Vishakha Darbha

As millennials march into middle age, many are reconsidering the culture of their youth. A new Netflix documentary, “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” is doing just that: exploring how a reality show set out to change the modeling industry, but often wound up humiliating contestants along the way.

The culture editor Nadja Spiegelman sits down with the former modeling agent and brand strategist Kendall Werts and the Opinion writer Jessica Grose to reflect on their relationships to the original show. “I saw these girls being treated so ugly at the time, and I enjoyed it,” Grose says. “And now, with the hindsight of 20 years, I don’t think I would even rewatch the show.”

Was Tyra Banks the Villain? Or Were We?

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The transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Nadja Spiegelman: I’m Nadja Spiegelman and I’m a culture editor for New York Times Opinion.

Like so many millennials, I recently binged the Netflix docuseries “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.” I was in high school when the reality show “America’s Next Top Model” first aired, and I was completely addicted to it.

Audio clip of Tyra Banks: Five beautiful young ladies stand before me, but I only have four photos in my hands.

Audio clip of Tyra Banks: Five beautiful young ladies stand before me, but I only have four photos in my hands.

The original show was a reality TV contest hosted by Tyra Banks, who plucked young women from all over the country competing to win a contract with a modeling agency. I’d never seen anything like it. No one had. I’d never seen real girls on television talking about being gay or being curvy in a world of heroin-chic thinness.

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Jessica Grose is an Opinion writer for The Times, covering family, religion, education, culture and the way we live now.

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