Hulu removes problematic episode of ‘America’s Next Top Model’ that deals with racial transition
Life after death America’s Next Top Model continues to be grueling, as the show’s problematic legacy has led to one of its most controversial episodes being deleted from the internet.
According to Decider, Tyra Banks’ iconic but controversial modeling competition series has been edited by Hulu. The streamer has pulled the fifth episode of season four (also known as Cycle 4), “The Girl Who Is Contagious,” from its platform. The episode is one of several in which contestants had to “swap” ethnicity using makeup for a Got Milk? campaign shoot. This includes forcing some contestants to appear in blackface makeup.
The following race-switching challenge, which takes place in 2009’s Cycle 13, is also not streaming on Hulu. In fact, the entire season is not available on the streamer at all. However, “The Girl Who Is Contagious” is still available for purchase on Prime Video.
The show’s legacy is even more tarnished when fans and former contestants look back on this and another episode that addressed racial skewing. Although several former contestants told Entertainment Weekly that while the challenges were problematic, they took place before people became overly aware of racial sensitivity, other contestants discussed how they felt the challenges were wrong regardless of the time.
“I know Tyra has taken a lot of criticism for all of this, and that’s a good thing because it’s her name. She has to take responsibility for certain things,” said Kathlen Rondot, who looked like a Hawaiian during the shoot. “I realize that was 20 years ago, but how could we think that was actually OK?”
Jennifer An, a season 13 contestant who was transformed into a woman from Botswana in the second race-switching challenge, told Entertainment Weekly that she criticized the makeup artists for blacking out her face, but her concerns were not raised on television.
Jay Manuel, who would introduce the challenges, including the race swap, also told Variety that he felt “so, so uncomfortable” with the race swap challenges. He claimed that these challenges were not his idea, but rather “an added layer.”
“It was supposed to be a different concept. I remember that very, very well,” he said. “I was basically told that I had to do the creative work, and that made me very uncomfortable.”
Hulu’s decision to remove certain episodes of America’s Next Top Model is just the latest chapter in fans’ viewing of the series in the cold light of the 2020s, which includes more education and sensitivity towards racism and sexism. Banks has been criticized for her race-bending episodes, but claimed she meant well. A spokesperson for Banks told Entertainment Weekly the shoot was intended to be “a moment to celebrate and shine a spotlight on underrepresented beauty ideologies — textured hair and darker skin — on a global scale” and to address “widespread beauty standards” in the fashion industry. However, Banks has also been criticized for her treatment of the show’s contestants in a chilling Business Insider article in which former contestants claimed they were put in real danger at the behest of Banks and the crew.