Did ANTM Cross The Line By Ignoring A Model’s Disability?
During Cycle 8 of America’s Next Top Model, judges were mostly unsympathetic towards contestant Brittany Hatch when she confessed that she suffered from short-term memory loss due to being hit by a car at 17. Her difficulty made it difficult for her to complete a commercial challenge. We’re the judges right in telling her that she would need to learn to “work through” her shortcomings?
A big trend on YouTube right now involves Gen Zers watching old competition television shows from the early 2000s. They point out or expose so-called abusive behavior by judges or hosts. A typical target is America’s Next Top Model. The news recently criticized former host Tyra Banks after some quarantine binge-watching of the show led many to comment on unfair and abusive practices towards the contestants. Some examples include humiliating challenges and forcing models to pose nude and through traumatic situations.
The Episode
I watched a reaction video by photographer YouTuber Jessica Kobeissi where she reviewed an America’s Next Top Model episode from Cycle 8 where the models had to shoot a commercial with an Australian accent. One of the models, Brittany Hatch, told the judges on the panel that she struggled with remembering her lines because she suffered short-term memory loss after being hit by a car…
