The Girl Who Pushed Tyra Banks (And The Internet) Over The Edge
Tiffany Richardson
Since Tyra Banks yelled "We were rooting for you!" on America's Next Top Model   it's become one of the most iconic moments in reality TV history  and one of the most inescapable GIFs on the internet. Now  more than a decade since Banks flipped on  contestant Tiffany Richardson   the former model hopeful reveals what viewers didn't see  how  she  feels about Banks  and how far  she 's come.
âThis is a really difficult decision â Tyra Banks said  face stoic  voice solemn. âYouâve put me in a very difficult place.â Before  her  stood America's Next Top Model contestants  Tiffany Richardson  and Rebecca Epley  who were on the chopping block.
The Cycle 4 hopefuls were relatively motionless  aside from the sporadic subtle head nods as they waited to see whose photo Banks was holding. Whoever was pictured would be âsafeâ in the worldâs fiercest modeling competition â at least for an additional week. But when Banks finally revealed the reflective  glossy image in  her  hands  it was blank: Both  Richardson  and Epley were going home. A shock wave rippled through the room  leaving the models who would be moving forward and Banks's fellow judges visibly shaken. Epley let her tears flow freely as she was comforted by her fellow contestants turned friends;  Richardson   meanwhile  tried to lighten the mood  telling the other models  âCheer up  waterheads. [What are you] lookinâ all sad for?â The contestants wiped their faces  and after saying their goodbyes  Banks called the two eliminated women back over for what would become the most memorable send-off in reality TV history.
âRebecca  I admire your emotion right now. It shows to me that this was something thatâs very important to you â Banks said  before turning to  Richardson . âTiffany  Iâm extremely disappointed in you. This is a joke to you. â¦ This is serious to these girls  and it should be serious to you.â âLooks can be deceiving  " Richardson  interjected. âI'm hurt. â¦ I canât change it  Tyra. â¦ Iâm sick of crying about stuff that I cannot change. Iâm sick of being disappointed.â âYou ain't sick of being disappointed  Tiffany â Banks replied  her voice becoming irritated  her bright red hair following every shake of her head. âIf you were sick of being disappointed  you would stand up and you would take control of your destiny. Do you know that you had a possibility to win? Do you know that all of America is rooting for you?â Banks and  Richardson  began talking over each other as they tried to explain themselves  both growing more passionate with each word until Banks became completely unhinged. âI have never in my life yelled at a girl like this â she shouted  her voice cracking. The glare in her eyes sharpened as she looked down at Richardson  whoâd turned her head away amid the yelling. âWhen my mother yells like this  itâs because she loves me. I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!â Suddenly  the room fell silent. For the first time  the very polished Tyra Banks had broken character. She had always been the knowledgeable big sister who carried herself with grace  someone you could count on for sound advice  someone to look up to. But that wasn't who audiences saw when she went in on Richardson. It left folks watching at home shook â so much that weâre not only still talking about it today  but we've managed to transform the unforgettable moment into a way we interact with one another.
If you were to do a general search on YouTube for the scene  which aired in April 2005  youâd see a few results â âTyra Banks Gone Wild â âTyra Banks Yells at Girl â âTyra Yells at  Tiffany  Extendedâ â totaling more than 11 million views and counting. And you probably see the continuous loop of Banks yelling her famous line in GIF form on at least one social media platform a day. The scene has been memed over and over again  tracing back to old message boards  the underbelly of the early internet. It also lives on through fan art and tweets and Vines (RIP)  and it was parodied on Family Guy  on which Banks was portrayed as a model who loses her temper and transforms into a lizard  eating one of the contestants. It was even used in January 2017 as a symbol of protest during the international Womenâs March in reference to President Donald Trump  the day after he was inaugurated. "None of us were rooting for you " a protester's sign read. "How dare you."
But before she returned to Miami  Richardson said that producers âhintedâ that sheâd be able to come back for Cycle 4 if she participated in an anger management program. According to  Richardson   the suggestion came because of how  she âd performed on  her  psych test  an assessment of the contestantsâ mental stability before theyâre allowed into the house with the other models. Cocks said the models are screened âextensivelyâ and she'd be surprised if those who vet contestants âdid not do their due diligence." Though  she  mainly worked in postproduction and couldn't confirm Richardson's account  Cocks did say  âI think itâs possible. Look  she obviously made a really good impression in Season 3 if she failed whatever she said she failed. I could definitely see them reaching out to her again and being like  âDo you want to give this another try?â" Richardson said she did try anger management for just âa secondâ and âit didnât really change much.â She wouldnât disclose how much time sheâd spent in her program. (A representative for Ken Mok  the president of 10 by 10 Entertainment  the production company behind America's Next Top Model  said he was unavailable to be interviewed for this story and did not respond to a further request for comments on Richardson's statements.) âI donât think they really cared about me going to anger management â Richardson told BuzzFeed News. âIt looked good for TVâ¦fake-ass Cinderella story.â Months later  just before filming for Cycle 4 of Top Model began  Richardson said she was contacted by a producer to come out to Tampa for an audition. While there  she retook the psych test and âswitched the answers." "I put what they wanted to hear â she said.
Banks and the Jays were moved. â Tiffany  grabbed  her  problems by the reins   she  got it together  came back  and I truly believed that girl wants to change  her  life â Mr. Jay said after  her  interview. But really  Richardson just had them all fooled. âHonestly  looking back  I was full of shit â  she  said. âLike  I was still the same person. â¦ [I was] playing the fucking role. â¦ I fed into the crap they was telling me and I ran with it.â With such an apparent change in demeanor  Richardson was a shoo-in as a Top Model finalist  because who doesnât love a good redemption story? And who loves one more than Tyra Banks? Banks had long established  her  brand as someone who was invested in bettering the lives of young women. In 1999   she  founded a camp for girls that âconsisted of a self-esteem building program that addressed battling gender stereotypes  elevating body and beauty love  and creating a sisterhood of trust.â In 2008   she  told the New York Times Magazine about the doors that had been slammed in  her  face and the adversity  she 'd faced as a model before retiring in 2005.  She 's always been focused on pulling  herself  up by the bootstraps â a person who would eventually yell at Richardson in that infamous April 2005 episode  âYou don't know where the hell I come from. You have no idea what I've been through. But I'm not a victim. I grow from it  and I learn.â Banks  whose representative did not respond to multiple requests to set up an interview for or comment on this story  often used  her  life as a rubric for other models to follow  especially the ones  she  handpicked and groomed on America's Next Top Model â and Richardson was certainly an example of that.
According to Cycle 4 contestants  the judging room was located in another area of the Top Model house where they would assemble for that week's critiques. One by one  each model would walk down a runway-like plank to find out how she performed that week. Her photos would be displayed on a giant screen for everyone to see  and her critiques would be said for everyone to hear. By the time everyone received their feedback  the women had been standing for hours; sometimes they would need to take a break  eat  and then come back in for more critiques. âWeâd get picked apart for like 15  20 minutes each " Richardson recalled. "If you say something back  youâre going to be up there for a minute â and sometimes theyâd be going at it  like roasting the fuck out of us. Back to back to back.â After they received their feedback  they'd then be sent out of the room to let the judges deliberate  a process that took six to eight hours in its entirety. Eventually  the contestants would stand before the judges again and Banks would call each "safe" woman by name until there were only two left standing  one of whom would be eliminated. The schedule would leave the women physically and mentally exhausted  on top of being largely separated from the world outside of Top Model. âItâs not quite like Big Brother  where they strip them of everything â said Cocks. The contestants werenât âgetting a lot of pop culture  but they were aware of stuff â she explained  because theyâd walk around LA during challenges and shoots. Richardson struggled to settle into her new reality. âI was there but I wasnât there. It was so different for me â she said. âI donât know anything about designer clothes  and it was kinda like I had to try to fit in and figure it out. Even with makeup  I felt really out of place.â âWe were all out of our comfort zone â said Cycle 4 contestant Brittany Brower. But  Richardson    she  noted  "even more so." "I remember we went and had sushi one night and  she âd never had sushi.  She  thought it was  like  crazy â¦ so  she  was just feeling really alienated.â
On top of feeling like an outsider  Richardson was getting feedback about her photos looking "a little stripper-ish " according to guest judge Mathu Andersen  who was the contestantsâ makeup artist. And in the episode in which Richardson was famously sent home   she  struggled through a challenge where the contestants were tasked with memorizing a short script and performing it using a cockney English accent. It was yet another blow to Richardson's confidence when the women were instructed to read designer names from a teleprompter for a mini red carpet challenge during judging. Many of the models had trouble with names like HermÃ¨s and Christian Lacroix  but Richardson gave up after fumbling over words. âI canât do this â she said. â Tiffany   the other girls did not know these words â Banks said softly  with the other judges backing  her  up. âIf you donât do this  youâre going to go home.â " Tiffany  was humiliated by a lot of the stuff that was going on in the show " Cycle 4 contestant Keenyah Hill told BuzzFeed News. "She felt alienated and she felt targeted a lot." With the pressure of the competition getting to her  Richardson was at a crossroads: Continue to bear the blows â critiques from judges  draining challenges and photo shoots  etc. â or simply give up and go home. âEvery time I did something wrong  Iâd shut down a little bit more  and it just got to the point where I was over it. I felt like we were just there to be humiliated " Richardson said. "It was like  'What the fuck [else] could we do to them?'â Richardson said her issue wasnât exactly with the harshness of the critiques  it was more that she felt they weren't at all constructive. âI donât really care if you go in hard on me â go in on me  but help me â she said. âGoing in  we thought we were going to get modeling help.â Richardson said she thought the judges wouldâve been more âsincereâ in developing the women into models  but instead she felt like the contestants were only ridiculed from week to week.
After weeks of judging  challenges  and photo shoots  Richardson had particularly struggled throughout that ill-fated week  and she was hardly confident going into the elimination. âI didnât think it was gonna be me  because I was up against Rebecca  cute little white girl â Richardson said. But she also didn't think it'd be a double elimination  or that Banks would disclose deeply personal information about Richardsonâs less-than-perfect life back home in Florida. "Youâve been through anger management " Banks screamed once things escalated. "Youâve been through your grandmother getting her lights turned off to buy you a swimsuit for this competition." But that was only what viewers saw. According to  Richardson   the argument was â1 000 times worse" in reality.  She  was hesitant to elaborate  but when pressed for more details  Richardson said she recalled Banks yelling at  her   âYou can go back to your house and sleep on your mattress on the floor with your baby â in front of the other judges  contestants  and crew members. Richardson wouldnât reveal further information about what may have been edited out of Banksâs tirade  but that particular comment  she said  âstayed in the back of my mind." Cocks said that though she wasnât there during the elimination  she was heavily involved in the editing process  and she couldnât remember Banks saying that in any of the transcripts. She did  however  confirm that the tirade was trimmed  mainly due to time constraints.
As Richardson left the judging room to pack up her things  she remembers yelling âfuck Tyraâ and âfuck Top Model.â In the episode  the cameras continued to roll as Richardson and Epley packed their bags. During a quick exit interview  in which she wore the same long black slip dress she wore during the elimination  Richardson said  âIâm not finna break down for you or nobody else. You ainât did shit for me but bring me here and put me through hell these weeks.â Epley didnât remember the âentire wrath of Tyra â but she said it seemed like Banks âwent above and beyond to break  Tiffany  down.â Brower agreed  saying more bluntly  "It was definitely harsh â¦ almost like Tyra wanted  her  to be devastated when  she  got eliminated  and when  Tiffany  was not acting that way  itâs like  she  just lost it. â¦ There was a lot more anger there  especially in the beginning.â Hill said she remembered that "financially [Richardson] and her family  they werenât doing really well at the time." She added that Richardson had a "lackadaisical" attitude. "She made it seem like she was unbothered  unaffected  did not care " according to Hill. "And  Tiffany âs my girl  but in that moment  I could definitely see where Tyra was coming from. She had some truth to what she was saying  but [Banks] probably did go in.â While it may have been a case of extreme tough love  thatâs not how Richardson felt about it. âWhy are you yelling at me  because Iâm grown as fuck â Richardson recalled thinking as Banks got heated. âIt was just  like  bullshit. It was so over-the-top for no reason.â In Richardson's view  Banks âneeded them ratings to go up or something." The producer and three judges (Marin  Barker  and Dickinson) who spoke to BuzzFeed News all noted that the blowup was a deviation from how Banks normally interacted with the contestants  but some said it came from a place of Banks wanting Richardson to succeed. Barker called the moment âshell-shocking â but said there was ânever anything vitriolic about it  ever.â âIt was much more maternal than anything else â he said. After Richardson and Epley packed their bags  they were sent to a hotel room  where they stayed for the next few days. During production on Top Model  contestants didnât actually go straight home. They were essentially sequestered for almost 24 hours a day in hotel rooms  only able to leave to get food. Cocks told BuzzFeed News the goal was to prevent the public from finding out which contestant was eliminated and when. These contestants were referred to as âbogies â a play on the word âbogus.â Producers also didn't want eliminated contestants â at least in the early days of the show â to know who was eliminated after them. Cocks told BuzzFeed News that producers did another exit interview with Richardson as a way of âbuttoning upâ her storyline. According to Cocks's recollection of the decision  Banks "basically drove that train.â The concern was that the story was essentially âunfinishedâ without showing that Banks and Richardson had made amends.
So Banks  along with her mother  Carolyn London  visited Richardson while she was in her hotel room  which Epley confirmed  though she wasnât present for the conversation. Richardson said that the contestants had met London earlier in the competition and that she loved how âwarm her spirit wasâ because it reminded Richardson of her grandmother. In hindsight  Richardson saw London's presence in her hotel room as a way for Banks and the producers to make her feel more comfortable for the closing interview they had planned. According to  Richardson   Banks recognized that they had a âmoment â said she saw a lot of herself in  Richardson   and said she would continue to act as her mentor. âYou would think that if you cared that much  you wouldâve been there more " Richardson said. "I didnât think she cared. I donât think she gave a fuck about none of us  except for the ones who made it big. But hey  it is what it is.â Richardson said the second exit interview was conducted just a few minutes after Banks and her mother left her hotel room. Richardson sported a bright pink tube top  dangling earrings  and a black baseball cap that covered her hair  making it obvious that the interview wasnât from the same night as the elimination  where Richardson wore the black getup. She seemed happier and more hopeful in that footage because sheâd been âjuiced up â as she said  in a sense  by Banks. "Part of me did give up. I was being very disrespectful " Richardson's voice is heard saying in the episode as she's shown  in that black elimination night dress  packing up her suitcase. Then  the camera cuts to Richardson in her pink tube top saying  "Tyra really did care about me  her yelling at me. I have the utmost respect for her  'cause she could've easily said  'OK  whatever.' And  you know  'Bye.' That showed me that she saw deeply into me and she cared about me. "And that's cool knowing that  you know  Tyra cares about you " Richardson said with a smile across her face  as the camera faded to her in that black dress again  rolling her suitcase out of the Top Model house.
In 2012  Banks dramatically acted out a portion of the well-known scene during Cycle 19  and in 2015  she referenced the classic moment while live-tweeting Cycle 22 of the show. The now-retired supermodel also went the Kardashian route in January 2017  opting to capitalize on the constantly quoted moment by turning it â as well as a few of her other catchphrases â into an emoji as part of her TyTyMoji collection. But other than that  Banks hasnât said much on the subject. After watching the episode â and with a decade having passed  â Richardson  said  she  understands that it made for good TV. âIt was deep  it was passionateâ¦the musicâs going  Tyraâs beautiful self yelling [at the] poor little black girl "  she  said. "It was beautiful for TV. They love to see black girls struggling and somebody coming to save  her  â¦ and that just didnât work out that way this time.â Richardson said one of her last interactions with Banks was when Hill came down to Miami in the months after filming had wrapped on Cycle 4 and Banks just happened to call as the former contestants stayed in a hotel for a weekend  planning to scout agencies. She said Banks offered them advice on how to dress while they were looking for a potential agency  which Richardson said she appreciated. In September 2005  Banks invited Richardson onto The Tyra Banks Show for a Top Model reunion special  but it was during a second visit to Banksâs talk show in January 2006 for a tell-all episode when Richardson felt like their relationship was over. (Telepictures was unable to provide BuzzFeed News with a review copy of the Tyra Banks Show episode in question.) In the interview  Richardson said  she opened up about her issues with Banks  saying Banks always focused on the negatives in her life. After the taping  Richardsonâs grandmother wrote a letter to Banks  calling the talk show host out for always portraying Richardson in a bad light  and sent it to The Tyra Banks Show. Richardson couldnât confirm if Banks herself ever received the letter  but she said she never heard from her again.
Richardsonâs son  Chaddrick  whom she frequently talked about on Top Model  is now 14 years old. She has also since had a daughter named Chaz  whoâs 9. She works a normal 9-to-5 job at a group home in Miami assisting people with mental disabilities. âItâs pretty cool  though  Iâm not complaining about it â she said. But  she said multiple times  sheâs âfamous-broke " in that her notoriety reaps no financial benefits. âEvery fucking day somebody is coming up to me about this show and how I couldâve won and Tyra said this and itâs like  really? Itâs been 10 years. Could yâall not?â she said. While the in-person interactions have worn on her  the persistence of the moment online doesn't get to Richardson. âOh  I donât give a fuck  people are gonna laugh anyway â she said. âPeople ainât shit. Humans are not shit  okay? Theyâre gonna laugh  it doesnât matter. It doesnât bother me.â Today Richardson does occasionally find time to work with a local photographer  but modeling isn't something she's prioritizing. âIâve been doing a couple of different photo shoots  and itâs like a learning process too â she said happily  noting she has gone to some networking events. âAnd then Iâm just getting my body fit â¦ but I work  I live in the real world.â Although sheâs kept her tough-as-nails personality  she doesnât look back on the show with ill feelings. "I still didnât take advantage of the situation like I shouldâve  but you know  you live and you learn " she said. "I canât regret that    because  it  made me who I am right now. And I needed all of that.â â
Since Tyra Banks yelled "We were rooting for you!" on America's Next Top Model   it's become one of the most iconic moments in reality TV history  and one of the most inescapable GIFs on the internet. Now  more than a decade since Banks flipped on  contestant  [TGT]    the former model hopeful reveals what viewers didn't see  how   [TGT]   feels about Banks  and how far   [TGT]  's come.
âThis is a really difficult decision â Tyra Banks said  face stoic  voice solemn. âYouâve put me in a very difficult place.â Before   [TGT]   stood America's Next Top Model contestants  Tiffany Richardson  and Rebecca Epley  who were on the chopping block.
The Cycle 4 hopefuls were relatively motionless  aside from the sporadic subtle head nods as they waited to see whose photo Banks was holding. Whoever was pictured would be âsafeâ in the worldâs fiercest modeling competition â at least for an additional week. But when Banks finally revealed the reflective  glossy image in  her  hands  it was blank: Both  Richardson  and Epley were going home. A shock wave rippled through the room  leaving the models who would be moving forward and Banks's fellow judges visibly shaken. Epley let her tears flow freely as she was comforted by her fellow contestants turned friends;  Richardson   meanwhile  tried to lighten the mood  telling the other models  âCheer up  waterheads. [What are you] lookinâ all sad for?â The contestants wiped their faces  and after saying their goodbyes  Banks called the two eliminated women back over for what would become the most memorable send-off in reality TV history.
âRebecca  I admire your emotion right now. It shows to me that this was something thatâs very important to you â Banks said  before turning to  Richardson . âTiffany  Iâm extremely disappointed in you. This is a joke to you. â¦ This is serious to these girls  and it should be serious to you.â âLooks can be deceiving  " Richardson  interjected. âI'm hurt. â¦ I canât change it  Tyra. â¦ Iâm sick of crying about stuff that I cannot change. Iâm sick of being disappointed.â âYou ain't sick of being disappointed  Tiffany â Banks replied  her voice becoming irritated  her bright red hair following every shake of her head. âIf you were sick of being disappointed  you would stand up and you would take control of your destiny. Do you know that you had a possibility to win? Do you know that all of America is rooting for you?â Banks and  Richardson  began talking over each other as they tried to explain themselves  both growing more passionate with each word until Banks became completely unhinged. âI have never in my life yelled at a girl like this â she shouted  her voice cracking. The glare in her eyes sharpened as she looked down at Richardson  whoâd turned her head away amid the yelling. âWhen my mother yells like this  itâs because she loves me. I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!â Suddenly  the room fell silent. For the first time  the very polished Tyra Banks had broken character. She had always been the knowledgeable big sister who carried herself with grace  someone you could count on for sound advice  someone to look up to. But that wasn't who audiences saw when she went in on Richardson. It left folks watching at home shook â so much that weâre not only still talking about it today  but we've managed to transform the unforgettable moment into a way we interact with one another.
If you were to do a general search on YouTube for the scene  which aired in April 2005  youâd see a few results â âTyra Banks Gone Wild â âTyra Banks Yells at Girl â âTyra Yells at  Tiffany  Extendedâ â totaling more than 11 million views and counting. And you probably see the continuous loop of Banks yelling her famous line in GIF form on at least one social media platform a day. The scene has been memed over and over again  tracing back to old message boards  the underbelly of the early internet. It also lives on through fan art and tweets and Vines (RIP)  and it was parodied on Family Guy  on which Banks was portrayed as a model who loses her temper and transforms into a lizard  eating one of the contestants. It was even used in January 2017 as a symbol of protest during the international Womenâs March in reference to President Donald Trump  the day after he was inaugurated. "None of us were rooting for you " a protester's sign read. "How dare you."
But before she returned to Miami   [TGT]  said that producers âhintedâ that sheâd be able to come back for Cycle 4 if she participated in an anger management program. According to   [TGT] the suggestion came because of how   [TGT]  âd performed on   [TGT]   psych test  an assessment of the contestantsâ mental stability before theyâre allowed into the house with the other models. Cocks said the models are screened âextensivelyâ and she'd be surprised if those who vet contestants âdid not do their due diligence." Though  she  mainly worked in postproduction and couldn't confirm  [TGT] 's account  Cocks did say  âI think itâs possible. Look  she obviously made a really good impression in Season 3 if she failed whatever she said she failed. I could definitely see them reaching out to her again and being like  âDo you want to give this another try?â [TGT]  said  [TGT]  did try anger management for just âa secondâ and âit didnât really change much.â  [TGT]  wouldnât disclose how much time sheâd spent in  [TGT]  program. (A representative for Ken Mok  the president of 10 by 10 Entertainment  the production company behind America's Next Top Model  said he was unavailable to be interviewed for this story and did not respond to a further request for comments on  [TGT] 's statements.) âI donât think they really cared about me going to anger management â  [TGT]  told BuzzFeed News. âIt looked good for TVâ¦fake-ass Cinderella story.â Months later  just before filming for Cycle 4 of Top Model began   [TGT]  said  [TGT]  was contacted by a producer to come out to Tampa for an audition. While there   [TGT]  retook the psych test and âswitched the answers." "I put what they wanted to hear â  [TGT]  said.
Banks and the Jays were moved. â Tiffany  grabbed  her  problems by the reins   she  got it together  came back  and I truly believed that girl wants to change  her  life â Mr. Jay said after  her  interview. But really   [TGT]  just had them all fooled. âHonestly  looking back  I was full of shit â   [TGT]   said. âLike  I was still the same person. â¦ [I was] playing the fucking role. â¦ I fed into the crap they was telling me and I ran with it.â With such an apparent change in demeanor   [TGT]  was a shoo-in as a Top Model finalist  because who doesnât love a good redemption story? And who loves one more than Tyra Banks? Banks had long established   [TGT]   brand as someone who was invested in bettering the lives of young women. In 1999   she  founded a camp for girls that âconsisted of a self-esteem building program that addressed battling gender stereotypes  elevating body and beauty love  and creating a sisterhood of trust.â In 2008   she  told the New York Times Magazine about the doors that had been slammed in  her  face and the adversity  she 'd faced as a model before retiring in 2005.  She 's always been focused on pulling  herself  up by the bootstraps â a person who would eventually yell at  [TGT]  in that infamous April 2005 episode  âYou don't know where the hell I come from. You have no idea what I've been through. But I'm not a victim. I grow from it  and I learn.â Banks  whose representative did not respond to multiple requests to set up an interview for or comment on this story  often used  her  life as a rubric for other models to follow  especially the ones  she  handpicked and groomed on America's Next Top Model â and  [TGT]  was certainly an example of that.
According to Cycle 4 contestants  the judging room was located in another area of the Top Model house where they would assemble for that week's critiques. One by one  each model would walk down a runway-like plank to find out how she performed that week. Her photos would be displayed on a giant screen for everyone to see  and her critiques would be said for everyone to hear. By the time everyone received their feedback  the women had been standing for hours; sometimes they would need to take a break  eat  and then come back in for more critiques. âWeâd get picked apart for like 15  20 minutes each "  [TGT]  recalled. "If you say something back  youâre going to be up there for a minute â and sometimes theyâd be going at it  like roasting the fuck out of us. Back to back to back.â After they received their feedback  they'd then be sent out of the room to let the judges deliberate  a process that took six to eight hours in its entirety. Eventually  the contestants would stand before the judges again and Banks would call each "safe" woman by name until there were only two left standing  one of whom would be eliminated. The schedule would leave the women physically and mentally exhausted  on top of being largely separated from the world outside of Top Model. âItâs not quite like Big Brother  where they strip them of everything â said Cocks. The contestants werenât âgetting a lot of pop culture  but they were aware of stuff â she explained  because theyâd walk around LA during challenges and shoots.  [TGT]  struggled to settle into  [TGT]  new reality. âI was there but I wasnât there. It was so different for me â she said. âI donât know anything about designer clothes  and it was kinda like I had to try to fit in and figure it out. Even with makeup  I felt really out of place.â âWe were all out of our comfort zone â said Cycle 4 contestant Brittany Brower. But   [TGT]  [TGT]   noted  "even more so." "I remember we went and had sushi one night and   [TGT]  âd never had sushi.   [TGT]   thought it was  like  crazy â¦ so   [TGT]   was just feeling really alienated.â
On top of feeling like an outsider   [TGT]  was getting feedback about  [TGT]  photos looking "a little stripper-ish " according to guest judge Mathu Andersen  who was the contestantsâ makeup artist. And in the episode in which  [TGT]  was famously sent home    [TGT]   struggled through a challenge where the contestants were tasked with memorizing a short script and performing it using a cockney English accent. It was yet another blow to  [TGT] 's confidence when the women were instructed to read designer names from a teleprompter for a mini red carpet challenge during judging. Many of the models had trouble with names like HermÃ¨s and Christian Lacroix  but  [TGT]  gave up after fumbling over words. âI canât do this â  [TGT]  said. â Tiffany   the other girls did not know these words â Banks said softly  with the other judges backing  her  up. âIf you donât do this  youâre going to go home.â " Tiffany  was humiliated by a lot of the stuff that was going on in the show " Cycle 4 contestant Keenyah Hill told BuzzFeed News. " [TGT]  felt alienated and  [TGT]  felt targeted a lot." With the pressure of the competition getting to  [TGT]    [TGT]  was at a crossroads: Continue to bear the blows â critiques from judges  draining challenges and photo shoots  etc. â or simply give up and go home. âEvery time I did something wrong  Iâd shut down a little bit more  and it just got to the point where I was over it. I felt like we were just there to be humiliated  [TGT]  said. "It was like  'What the fuck [else] could we do to  [TGT]  said  [TGT]  issue wasnât exactly with the harshness of the critiques  it was more that  [TGT]  felt they weren't at all constructive. âI donât really care if you go in hard on me â go in on me  but help me â  [TGT]  said. âGoing in  we thought we were going to get modeling  [TGT]  said  [TGT]  thought the judges wouldâve been more âsincereâ in developing the women into models  but instead  [TGT]  felt like the contestants were only ridiculed from week to week.
After weeks of judging  challenges  and photo shoots   [TGT]  had particularly struggled throughout that ill-fated week  and  [TGT]  was hardly confident going into the elimination. âI didnât think it was gonna be me  because I was up against Rebecca  cute little white girl â  [TGT]  said. But  [TGT]  also didn't think it'd be a double elimination  or that Banks would disclose deeply personal information about Richardsonâs less-than-perfect life back home in Florida. "Youâve been through anger management " Banks screamed once things escalated. "Youâve been through your grandmother getting her lights turned off to buy you a swimsuit for this competition." But that was only what viewers saw. According to   [TGT] the argument was â1 000 times worse" in reality.   [TGT]   was hesitant to elaborate  but when pressed for more details   [TGT]  said  [TGT]  recalled Banks yelling at   [TGT]    âYou can go back to your house and sleep on your mattress on the floor with your baby â in front of the other judges  contestants  and crew members.  [TGT]  wouldnât reveal further information about what may have been edited out of Banksâs tirade  but that particular comment  she said  âstayed in the back of my mind." Cocks said that though she wasnât there during the elimination  she was heavily involved in the editing process  and she couldnât remember Banks saying that in any of the transcripts. She did  however  confirm that the tirade was trimmed  mainly due to time constraints.
As  [TGT]  left the judging room to pack up her things  she remembers yelling âfuck Tyraâ and âfuck Top Model.â In the episode  the cameras continued to roll as  [TGT]  and Epley packed their bags. During a quick exit interview  in which she wore the same long black slip dress she wore during the elimination   [TGT]  said  âIâm not finna break down for you or nobody else. You ainât did shit for  [TGT]  but bring me here and put me through hell these weeks.â Epley didnât remember the âentire wrath of Tyra â but she said it seemed like Banks âwent above and beyond to break  Tiffany  down.â Brower agreed  saying more bluntly  "It was definitely harsh â¦ almost like Tyra wanted  her  to be devastated when  she  got eliminated  and when  Tiffany  was not acting that way  itâs like  she  just lost it. â¦ There was a lot more anger there  especially in the beginning.â Hill said she remembered that "financially [Richardson] and her family  they werenât doing really well at the time." She added that  [TGT]  had a "lackadaisical" attitude. "She made it seem like she was unbothered  unaffected  did not care " according to Hill. "And  Tiffany âs my girl  but in that moment  I could definitely see where Tyra was coming from. She had some truth to what she was saying  but [Banks] probably did go in.â While it may have been a case of extreme tough love  thatâs not how  [TGT]  felt about it. âWhy are you yelling at me  because Iâm grown as fuck â  [TGT]  recalled thinking as Banks got heated. âIt was just  like  bullshit. It was so over-the-top for no reason.â In  [TGT] 's view  Banks âneeded them ratings to go up or something." The producer and three judges (Marin  Barker  and Dickinson) who spoke to BuzzFeed News all noted that the blowup was a deviation from how Banks normally interacted with the contestants  but some said it came from a place of Banks wanting  [TGT]  to succeed. Barker called the moment âshell-shocking â but said there was ânever anything vitriolic about it  ever.â âIt was much more maternal than anything else â he said. After  [TGT]  and Epley packed their bags  they were sent to a hotel room  where they stayed for the next few days. During production on Top Model  contestants didnât actually go straight home. They were essentially sequestered for almost 24 hours a day in hotel rooms  only able to leave to get food. Cocks told BuzzFeed News the goal was to prevent the public from finding out which contestant was eliminated and when. These contestants were referred to as âbogies â a play on the word âbogus.â Producers also didn't want eliminated contestants â at least in the early days of the show â to know who was eliminated after them. Cocks told BuzzFeed News that producers did another exit interview with  [TGT]  as a way of âbuttoning upâ  [TGT]  storyline. According to Cocks's recollection of the decision  Banks "basically drove that train.â The concern was that the story was essentially âunfinishedâ without showing that Banks and  [TGT]  had made amends.
So Banks  along with her mother  Carolyn London  visited  [TGT]  while she was in her hotel room  which Epley confirmed  though she wasnât present for the conversation.  [TGT]  said that the contestants had met London earlier in the competition and that  [TGT]  loved how âwarm  [TGT]  spirit wasâ because it reminded  [TGT]  of  [TGT]  grandmother. In hindsight   [TGT]  saw London's presence in  [TGT]  hotel room as a way for Banks and the producers to make  [TGT]  feel more comfortable for the closing interview they had planned. According to   [TGT] Banks recognized that they had a âmoment â said  [TGT]  saw a lot of  [TGT]  in  Richardson   and said  [TGT]  would continue to act as  [TGT]  mentor. âYou would think that if you cared that much  you wouldâve been there more  [TGT]  said. "I didnât think  [TGT]  cared. I donât think  [TGT]  gave a fuck about none of us  except for the ones who made it big. But hey  it is what it is.â  [TGT]  said the second exit interview was conducted just a few minutes after Banks and  [TGT]  mother left  [TGT]  hotel room.  [TGT]  sported a bright pink tube top  dangling earrings  and a black baseball cap that covered  [TGT]  hair  making it obvious that the interview wasnât from the same night as the elimination  where  [TGT]  wore the black getup.  [TGT]  seemed happier and more hopeful in that footage because sheâd been âjuiced up â as  [TGT]  said  in a sense  by Banks. "Part of me did give up. I was being very disrespectful "  [TGT] 's voice is heard saying in the episode as  [TGT] 's shown  in that black elimination night dress  packing up  [TGT]  suitcase. Then  the camera cuts to  [TGT]  in  [TGT]  pink tube top saying  "Tyra really did care about me  her yelling at me. I have the utmost respect for her  'cause she could've easily said  'OK  whatever.' And  you know  'Bye.' That showed me that she saw deeply into me and she cared about me. "And that's cool knowing that  you know  Tyra cares about you  [TGT]  said with a smile across  [TGT]  face  as the camera faded to her in that black dress again  rolling her suitcase out of the Top Model house.
In 2012  Banks dramatically acted out a portion of the well-known scene during Cycle 19  and in 2015  she referenced the classic moment while live-tweeting Cycle 22 of the show. The now-retired supermodel also went the Kardashian route in January 2017  opting to capitalize on the constantly quoted moment by turning it â as well as a few of her other catchphrases â into an emoji as part of her TyTyMoji collection. But other than that  Banks hasnât said much on the subject. After watching the episode â and with a decade having passed  â  [TGT] said   [TGT]   understands that it made for good TV. âIt was deep  it was passionateâ¦the musicâs going  Tyraâs beautiful self yelling [at the] poor little black girl "  she  said. "It was beautiful for TV. They love to see black girls struggling and somebody coming to save  her  â¦ and that just didnât work out that way  [TGT]  said one of  [TGT]  last interactions with Banks was when Hill came down to Miami in the months after filming had wrapped on Cycle 4 and Banks just happened to call as the former contestants stayed in a hotel for a weekend  planning to scout agencies.  [TGT]  said Banks offered them advice on how to dress while they were looking for a potential agency  which  [TGT]  said  [TGT]  appreciated. In September 2005  Banks invited  [TGT]  onto The Tyra Banks Show for a Top Model reunion special  but it was during a second visit to Banksâs talk show in January 2006 for a tell-all episode when  [TGT]  felt like their relationship was over. (Telepictures was unable to provide BuzzFeed News with a review copy of the Tyra Banks Show episode in question.) In the interview   [TGT]  said   [TGT]  opened up about  [TGT]  issues with Banks  saying Banks always focused on the negatives in  [TGT]  life. After the taping  Richardsonâs grandmother wrote a letter to Banks  calling the talk show host out for always portraying  [TGT]  in a bad light  and sent it to The Tyra Banks Show.  [TGT]  confirm if Banks herself ever received the letter  but  [TGT]  said  [TGT]  never heard from  [TGT]  again.
Richardsonâs son  Chaddrick  whom  [TGT]  frequently talked about on Top Model  is now 14 years old.  [TGT]  has also since had a daughter named Chaz  whoâs 9.  [TGT]  works a normal 9-to-5 job at a group home in Miami assisting people with mental disabilities. âItâs pretty cool  though  Iâm not complaining about it â  [TGT]  said. But   [TGT]  said multiple times  sheâs âfamous-broke " in that  [TGT]  notoriety reaps no financial benefits. âEvery fucking day somebody is coming up to me about this show and how I couldâve won and Tyra said this and itâs like  really? Itâs been 10 years. Could yâall not?â she said. While the in-person interactions have worn on her  the persistence of the moment online doesn't get to  [TGT] . âOh  I donât give a fuck  people are gonna laugh anyway â she said. âPeople ainât shit. Humans are not shit  okay? Theyâre gonna laugh  it doesnât matter. It doesnât bother me.â Today  [TGT]  does occasionally find time to work with a local photographer  but modeling isn't something she's prioritizing. âIâve been doing a couple of different photo shoots  and itâs like a learning process too â she said happily  noting she has gone to some networking events. âAnd then Iâm just getting my body fit â¦ but I work  I live in the real world.â Although sheâs kept her tough-as-nails personality  she doesnât look back on the show with ill feelings. "I still didnât take advantage of the situation like I shouldâve  but you know  you live and you learn " she said. "I canât regret that    because  it  made me who I am right now. And I needed all of that.â â