Social media has been calling out America's Next Top Model for years. Tyra Banks just responded.

Let's be honest, we've all spent far too many hours rewatching America's Next Top Model and collectively gasping at just how wild it all was. For years now, social media has been dragging the show for its deeply problematic content (for good reason), and finally, Tyra Banks has acknowledged the criticism. Well... kind of.

I mean… where do we even start with the controversy surrounding ANTM? The body-shaming. The questionable challenges. The poor treatment of the models? It's a lot.

The show's treatment of race was appalling from the beginning. Cycle 4 gave us that jaw-dropping "race swap" photoshoot where models were literally painted different races. Yes, you read that correctly.

Watch Tyra Banks losing it at a contestant on ANTM. Article continues after video.

And the makeovers. The dreaded makeovers. How could we possibly forget? The makeovers on this show were less 'fashion transformations', more 'psychological torture sessions'. Cassandra in Cycle 5 was forced to cut off her long hair for a super-short pixie cut, and when she refused to cut it even shorter, she was kicked off the set.

And let's not forget they actually had a contestant's teeth SHAVED to widen her gap (ironic, since they had asked another contestant in Cycle 6 to close the gap between her teeth, which she refused). Permanent, irreversible dental procedures for a reality TV competition. Let that sink in.

The body-shaming on ANTM wasn't subtle — it was the main event. When Keenyah gained weight during Cycle 4, the show punished her by making her pose as an elephant in one photoshoot, and as "gluttony" in another. The message couldn't have been clearer: gaining weight makes you worthy of public humiliation.

The ANTM challenges were BRUTAL. Image: The CW.

Even some of the challenges on ANTM were downright dangerous. In Cycle 8, they had the models pose in a meat locker while barely dressed. Jael Strauss, who was visibly shaking and turning blue, nearly got hypothermia — but was criticised for not pushing through it. It wasn't even the first time — contestant CariDee English had suffered hypothermia in Cycle 7 during a nude photoshoot shot in freezing cold water. When she told Banks she was cold, she was chasitised for complaining. When she had to be pulled from the water, freezing and shivering, she was blamed for not speaking up for herself. Make it make sense.

There was also the challenge in Cycle 4 where the models had to walk a runway on a moving platform that had been suspended over water. Kahlen had just gotten news of a friend's death, but was still forced to participate — and then criticised for looking sad.

Now, after years of criticism, Banks has acknowledged that there were aspects of the show that were indeed problematic, including many of the things she herself said at the time.

The moment we all remember all too well. Image: The CW.

"Did we get it right? Hell no. I said some dumb s***," Banks admitted during her speech at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards, where she was the first-ever Luminary Spotlight honoree.

However, just one sentence later, she went on to defend the show's broader impact.

"But I refuse to have my legacy be about some stuff linked together on the Internet when there were 24 cycles of changing the world. And I am so excited that I, and so many of us, have opened that door for others to follow."

This isn't the first time Banks has spoken about the controversy surrounding ANTM. In 2020, after some major backlash about resurfaced clips from the show, Banks issued a statement addressing the comments.

Banks has once again addressed the ANTM controversy. Image: Getty.

"Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you. Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs," she wrote on X.

But many were not satisfied with her lukewarm acknowledgement.

For countless former fans and contestants who endured the show's toxic practices, this half-hearted acknowledgement feels years too late and several apologies short. The show's legacy remains a complicated one that somehow managed to break barriers for diversity in modelling while simultaneously reinforcing harmful stereotypes and toxic beauty standards.

But one thing's clear — the receipts are all there, preserved forever in episodes that continue to shock new viewers discovering just how bad it really was.

Feature Image: The CW.