Janice Dickinson doesn’t regret controversial ‘ANTM’ comments: ‘It was acting’
So much for “reality” tv.
While Tyra Banks has admitted that she spoke insensitively about the aspiring models competing on her early aughts reality show “America’s Next Top Model,” judge Janice Dickinson says she doesn’t regret her harsh words, as she was only “acting.”
“Um, no. It was acting. And that’s that,” the 67-year-old former model offered on social media when asked if she regretted comments that, in 2022, read as body-shaming and ageist.
“People forget that TV is acting,” she added as a caption to the Instagram clip.
While show creator Banks, 48, has been facing backlash over the last few years from both the public and former contestants for her role in allegedly exploiting competitors, Dickinson largely escaped critique for her comments until last month when footage of the runway pro labeling model Robin Manning “plus-sized” — and asserting she shouldn’t win because of it — resurfaced.
The Season 1 panel, which included Banks, Dickinson, Kimora Lee Simmons and Beau Quillian, also deemed the 26-year-old “too old” and “too fat” to model professionally.
According to Newsweek, Dickinson also seemed to make “monkey sounds” after critiquing black contestant Kelle Jacob as she compared her retouched and un-retouched images, saying they were “like a Hitchcock film!”
Years later, Dickinson opened up about her role on the show, sharing on OWN’s “Where Are They Now?” in 2015 that Banks hired her to “be like a female Simon Cowell – to be feeding in a negative fashion things about the girls.”
Cowell was known for his harsh critique of singers during the early seasons of “American Idol.”
In 2020, Banks acknowledged that she made some “off choices” while producing the series.
“Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you,” Banks tweeted at the time. “Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs.”