Actress and former model Yaya DaCosta is opening up about her relationship with Tyra Banks following the latter’s viral speech at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards on Feb. 27— and she had a lot to say about Banks’ remarks.
Source: Amy Sussman / Getty
During the ceremony, Banks, 51, was honored with the first-ever Luminary Spotlight award, where she acknowledged that her iconic modeling competition show, America’s Next Top Model (ANTM), didn’t always get things “right.” Banks admitted that, at times, she and the guest judges may have said “dumb s***” that was controversial and hurtful to the models involved.
Source: Christopher Polk / Getty
DaCosta, who had several tense moments with Banks and the judges on the show, shared her thoughts on the speech in a candid Instagram video posted on March 15. Although she attended the ceremony, she missed Banks’ speech as she had stepped out to use the bathroom. However, after watching clips of the buzzing moment, the 42-year-old actress and model revealed she initially felt uneasy as the speech resurfaced past “trauma” from her time on the show.
DaCosta, who was a runner-up in Cycle 3 of ANTM, was famously criticized by Banks and the judges for wearing African-inspired outfits that were deemed “overbearing” and for being too “natural,” as they didn’t fit the mold of traditional beauty at the time. DaCosta spoke openly about the harsh criticism years after the show aired.
Yaya DaCosta Says She Squashed Her Beef With Tyra Banks
Source: Variety / Getty
Thankfully, after some much-needed healing, things have been mended and restored. DaCosta said she ran into Banks after the ceremony was finished and took the opportunity to squash her unresolved frustrations with the industry giant for the first time since working together in 2004. She noted that if she had crossed paths with the celeb years ago, that “the old me would’ve been feeling heat” or her “heartbeat would have sped up” or she “would’ve tensed,” since “the story that I had been telling for so long is a story of trauma.”
DaCosta shared that she has since “fully forgiven” Banks and used their recent encounter as an opportunity to have an open chat with the modeling icon.
According to DaCosta, they shared a “beautiful conversation” and spent some time reminiscing about their past experiences.
Although the Chicago Med star has moved on from the difficult moments she faced on ANTM, she acknowledged the genuine hurt that fans felt after watching certain episodes. In 2020, several old clips from ANTM resurfaced online, sparking widespread backlash against both Banks and the show’s creative team. One clip featured Banks advising a contestant to “fix” a gap in her teeth as she wouldn’t be “marketable,” while another included the now infamous “race swapping” challenge, where some contestants were asked to wear blackface for a photoshoot.
Addressing the viral social media clips head-on, DaCosta said that the show’s “manipulative editing and weaponization of girls’ weaknesses” and “catalyzing body dysmorphia to eating disorders” were wrong and admitted that “the most shocking” experiences she had on the show “did not even air.” However, her time on the show did create amazing opportunities and “tools” that she ultimately used to expand her modeling and acting career, including learning how to “regulate” her “nervous system.”
DaCosta and Banks ended up hugging things out at the end of their heart-to-heart.
“I just took her into an embrace … y’all I held that woman and when it was time for the hug to be over, I held some more. And I took a deep breath because I wanted her to feel what it feels like to be fully forgiven, appreciated and loved,” she revealed.
She added that the brief yet powerful discussion with Banks gave her an “amazing opportunity” to “finally close that chapter, as I’m beginning a new one.” She also claimed that the talk finally set her “free” from the trauma she endured on ANTM.
Tyra Banks Addressed The Viral ANTM Clips In Her Speech
Tyra addressed the backlash that erupted online in 2020 after the controversial clips resurfaced during her speech at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards last month.
Source: Leon Bennett / Getty
While she acknowledged that she may not have always made the right decisions on the show, she made it clear that she wouldn’t let ANTM’s “legacy” be forgotten by “stuff linked together” online.
“…There were 24 cycles of changing the world,” the famous muse added. “And I am so excited that I, and so many of us, have opened that door for others to follow. And now my 51-year-old, dimpled, cellulite-covered bigger tummy and 10 million times bigger titties is walking through that door that I opened with all of us behind us on that runway saying, ‘Baby, it’s just the beginning.’”
What do you think? Was Yaya’s take spot-on? Tell us in the comments section.