In Netflix’s America’s Next Top Model Doc, A Harrowing Story Reveals the Ethical Fog of Reality TV

Netflix’s new three-part series, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, highlights a particularly troubling story from the show’s history. America’s Next Top Model, created and hosted by Tyra Banks, was a reality competition where aspiring models competed for a contract and the title. It aired for 24 seasons across three networks (UPN, The CW, VH1) from 2003 to 2018. While initially successful, the show quickly became known for its controversies, including harsh judging, questionable challenges, backstage conflicts, and a disregard for the physical and mental well-being of its young contestants. It also produced some of the most memorable moments in reality TV, like Banks’ famous outburst – “I was rooting for you!” – from Season 4. The series provides some helpful context for that event, but it’s the show’s belated look at what happened to Shandi Sullivan in Milan that is truly disturbing. The things left unsaid about her experience are as unsettling as anything revealed in the documentary.

Stephen Colbert escalates dispute with CBS over Talarico interview ban

On Monday, Stephen Colbert explained that CBS explicitly prohibited him from having Democratic senate candidate John Talarico on his “Late Show.” The network’s reasoning was that inviting Talarico would obligate them to give equal airtime to his primary opponents. Colbert also revealed that CBS told him not to mention this restriction on the show, but he chose to disregard that instruction.