u/AdrianaLaServing

In cycle 6 (2006) of America’s Next Top Model, 32 hopefuls participated in the first episode of the show to get a place as one of the 13 contestants to make it into the competition. During this stage of the show, the girls spent a lot of time together.

Dani, shown in this clip, was clearly included for the drama of the show. Later in the episode, the Jays and Tyra told her she would be surrounded by gay people in the industry so it probably wasn’t the right fit for her, and threw a ton of shade at her appearance and photos — she clearly was never sincerely in the running to enter the competition.

Tyra always made a big deal about her show uplifting and empowering Black models and creating a space for them in the industry, yet they were repeatedly treated badly, like having to take part in racist challenges — then this. She still to this day claims she was just looking out for the girls. Why put them through dealing with Dani, then?

Sorry the captions aren’t great. I wanted to include them to make the video more accessible but the original clips had some captions already that were super blurry so I had to try to cover them with the new ones; it’s a bit of the mess but I hope it’s fairly legible.

As said in the title, the boys’ faces were always photographed and printed without consent or censoring, completely ignoring their right to privacy as children. I’ve censored their faces for this post as I just feel it would be really hypocritical to complain about this practice while spreading these images further. The headlines in these covers are despicable and so exploitative of their sons and Britney, it’s horrific that they would share (and MAKE UP!) such intimate things about their family, especially children!

It’s just so sad that the kids had to experience media harassment during their formative years. I’m sure many of us saw those heartbreaking pictures of Britney crying in the diner with her baby son on her lap because the paparazzi were incessantly harassing them.

There’s now a bill in California to prevent the paparazzi and tabloid harassment of the children of famous figures, to stop them being photographed and printed/posted about just for who their parents are. This did not exist at the time of these examples. There was a bit of a boycott for a couple years leading up to the bill regarding children’s faces being photographed and printed without parental consent, lobbied largely by Kristen Bell and Dex Shephard.

The show was cancelled in 2022 after the crew complained about the workplace in 2020.

I personally would have felt on edge if my boss was doing this!!! :O I know it’s not as bad as a lot of things posted here but it’s still a show we left in the past. It’s just a “What the hell was this show?” moment for me. Why did we like this show lol? I know some people like being scared and won’t have found it a big deal but some folks can have a hard time!

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Some people on the sub have shared that it’s hard for them when there’s consistently posts with triggering, dark subject matter so I wanted to post something lighter for a change, in a way that still fits the rules :)

This example is a blatant promotion of disordered eating.

Hilary herself had an eating disorder, so it’s hard to see her size referred to and her weight listed like this. It wouldn’t have been good for her, nor would it have been good for women and girls who compared themselves to her.

Then, the actual diet. [TW] This diet comes to 1,108 calories, which is well below the amount of calories adult women should have, especially active adult women. If people are dieting to lose weight they should have a healthy calorie deficit, but this example fits into a larger pattern of disordered eating. She doesn’t have weight to lose! There’s also no mention of health or nutrition. The normalisation of adult women eating just over 1k calories a day is terrifying! Then to promote that degree of exercise on top of that!

I can’t find exactly when this example is from but I think 2006.

In 1999, British TV presenter Chris Evans (no, not that Chris Evans) harassed The Spice Girls about their weight during interviews with them. He weighed Geri and Victoria, pressed Emma about her size, and made Mel C’s interview all about Victoria’s post-partum body — that was constantly being scrutinised at the time. These interviews were part of the late night show TFI Friday.

The women were clearly uncomfortable with the questioning and especially being weighed. The comments also had sexually objectifying undertones, such as asking Victoria if David helped her lose weight in "other ways". It’s just gross all around.

There’s so much to say about this, but the most shocking part for me is that Chris coerced Victoria to be weighed only TWO MONTHS after giving birth ☹️

(Video compilation credit to @maniaspice, captions added by me)

Mary-Kate Olsen had an, unfortunately very public, battle with anorexia back in the 2000s, starting around this period. Both twins were harassed incessantly about their weights, jokes were made about them constantly, they were called every name under the sun, they were asked incredibly invasive questions about their weights, rumours were spread about them. Like in this article, they were minors during some of that.

This article is an example of the fact that the media would shame women for being "fat" all the time, simply for being a healthy weight (god forbid a woman actually be plus size ☹️ they were so nasty!) but women simply couldn’t win, because they were attacked for being too thin, too. I know Mary-Kate had an ED but this shouldn’t have been the world’s business, especially as a minor. Mary-Kate constantly seeing this media about her would’ve been super triggering for her, too, and would’ve worsened her condition.

I find it extra gross that they’re talking about a 17 year old’s butt!!!

This article is from 2004.

It’s odd, because the tagline, "Is there such a thing as one standard size in Hollywood? No way!" almost reads like body positivity, but then you combine it with the rest of the page and it’s just a complete contradiction.

Not to mention the slut shaming!

This clip is from cycle 4 of America’s Next Top Model, in 2005. It shows contestant Tiffany Richardson, who had tried out for season 3 but had gotten into a bar fight so didn’t get in. She’d taken anger management classes between seasons and shared that her grandmother’s lights had been switched off, which touched Tyra’s heart. She was also a 21 year old single mother to a toddler. Tyra supposedly put her faith in her because of the anger management classes.

In this scene, Tiffany struggled to read a script from an autocue after telling them she couldn’t do it. She felt like this was an ongoing humiliation, which tracks for ANTM!

Later, when eliminated, she was calm and collected… you’d have thought that was what Tyra would have wanted when she was so pleased she’d taken the anger management classes. Instead, she lost her shit because Tiffany hadn’t given her the dramatic reaction she’d wanted for the show, and gave us this iconic WTF?! pop culture moment.

Tiffany claims it was 1000x worse off camera and a targeted attack by Tyra, not “tough love” like Tyra claims. She says that, although it wasn’t broadcasted, Tyra told her to back to sleeping on a dirty mattress with her son on her grandmother’s floor. This lines up with what Jay Manuel says in the 2026 ANTM Netflix documentary. He said they had to get a team of lawyers in the next day and a lot of the scene got cut out.

This scene was fucking wild!!!

Isis King was the first openly trans contestant on America’s Next Top Model and became one of the most visible trans people on TV. She’s the first actual trans woman I personally remember seeing on the TV… the only “trans” representation I saw before that was Chandler’s father on Friends.. lol.

She starred in the eleventh cycle of the show, in 2008, which is where these clips came from. She came in 10th place. Prior to entering the show, she had been living in the Ali Forney Transitional Living Program, which is an NYC based homeless centre for LGBT+ youth. I think it’s amazing that she took the powerful step to compete in ANTM as an openly trans, Black woman who had been experiencing personal difficulties. She’s must’ve been going through a lot in life <3 She was only 22 and it was courageous for her to take part in the show and I’m sure she inspired a lot of trans youth, particularly Black trans women, to be confident in themselves.

She also competed in the seventeenth cycle, which was the show’s All Stars edition, in 2011.

Since then, Isis has continued to represent trans folks in reality TV, talk shows, magazines, and as an actress. She also works as a motivational speaker going across schools in the US.

I just wanted to share about Isis because I think she’s super important!

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Anyway, about the transphobia shown in this post!!! I just think it’s pretty wild to look back on how normalised these kinds of conversations were. These examples were just bullying and I really feel for Isis. She was also asked invasive questions about her genitals that were aired.

I doubt the language used in these clips would be aired today on a prime time show (that doesn’t air on Fox or something….) like ANTM, like “he/she”, calling her a drag queen and a man. I think there’s been a lot more education about trans people now and how they should be referred to and the different identities.

Although I know there’s still a lot of room for education within certain communities, I do see a difference here in what is aired on TV nowadays. I think people would’ve stepped in, if not just from a moral standpoint but at the very least to not get cancelled! 🙄

This being allowed, producers not stepping in, and it airing, doesn’t surprise me for the 2000s, but it certainly doesn’t surprise me for the absolutely toxic shitshow that was ANTM!

Here’s a clip of Eminem talking about his song ‘97 Bonnie & Clyde. The song was released in 1998. I don’t know if I can put the lyrics in this post because it might be removed for the lyrics, so I’m just going to link to them. Like Eminem says in the clip, it’s about taking his daughter in the car to discard her mother’s body.

It’s a prequel to his disturbingly violent song Kim, which is about the fictional murder of his real-life (now ex) wife, Kim Mathers, committed by him. The lyrics are *definitely* too violent to post, so here’s a link to them. She’s the mother of his real child.

Watch this interview and tell me again how he’s playing a character. That’s always the justification for his hateful lyrics towards women etc. “It’s a character.” He openly said right here that those were his real feelings. He openly released these records sharing his feelings of intimate partner femicide. Why was this okay?

Marilyn Manson was asked to guest appear on the song but he refused because he felt it was too misogynistic. MARILYN MANSON!

In 2001, Nine time Grammy award winner Tori Amos released an album entitled Strange Little Girls in which she covered 12 songs that were originally written and performed by men. The songs were reimagined by Tori to be from a female point of view.

She released a chilling version of ‘97 Bonne & Clyde, performed solely in whisper, intended to be as the voice of the mother of the child.

Here’s a quote from Tori:

“I would hear a lot of people say, ‘They’re only words, what is everyone going on about?’

That’s where I said I could pick up the gauntlet. I believe in freedom of speech, but you cannot separate yourself from your creation. We go back to the power of words, and words are like guns. . . . Whether you choose the graciousness of Tom Waits or the brutality of ‘Bonnie and Clyde,’ they’re equally powerful, and that’s what drove me.”

In this clip, Chris Pratt — who’s now shilling an anti-abortion bible app, btw — tells the story of how he appeared naked on the set of Parks and Rec without the consent with from the cast and crew.

I’m glad NBC took it seriously enough to give him a serious warning, but can you imagine doing this in any other field of work?

And then, he goes on a talk show to tell this story and clearly finds it charming and hilarious, and everyone else does too?!?!

First off, let’s get two things gay and one thing straight: Kanye is a piece of shit. That out the way, he was so fucking real in this clip and called out Bush and the entire administration and media for what it deserved. PERIOD!!!

On September 2nd 2005, following Hurricane Katrina, NBC hosted an hour long celebrity benefit concert entitled A Concert for Hurricane Relief. During a live segment hosted by Kanye West and Mike Myers, Kanye went off script and delivered this truly WTF! moment that has been spoofed on and quoted ever since. I thought it was perfect for WTF! Wednesdays as a truly wild cultural moment. There’s also a user flair available on the sub quoting it!

I can’t stand Ye but good for 2005 Kanye for putting some respect on the victims’ of Katrina’s names and for pointing out the injustice and mistreatment directed towards Black people.

Tobacco companies and candy companies used to work together on candy cigarettes. Back in the day, they would even share packaging. Later, when health risks were known, the exact brand names (like Camels) were no longer used, but close knockoffs were used instead. They had red tips to look like they were lit, some had orange ends that looked like filters, and paper wrapping. Some were mint flavoured like menthols and some were filled with powder that could release a puff of smoke!

They’re now either banned or marketed as “candy sticks” in most places, and usually are just plain white sticks of candy and show no marketing towards smoking.

A study in 1990 found that sixth graders who ate candy sticks were twice as likely to smoke cigarettes as those who did not. That’s not insignificant.

Sarah Todd Hammer is from Atlanta, Georgia, USA and is 24 years old. Sarah Todd is her first name and goes by this rather than just Sarah.

She graduated magna cum laude of psychology and communication studies at Davidson College, NC. She is a published author, content creator, speaker, consultant, and disability advocate.

Sarah Todd had been a ballerina since a young age and was incredibly passionate about this art. One day, on the 19th of April 2010, age 8, she had an excruciating head and neck ache come on during a ballet class — the worst pain she’d ever felt. She had to be excused from class, but by the time she left the studio, her arms and hands no longer worked.

This first became noticeable when she was changing out of her ballet costume and couldn’t adjust her tights because her arms had completely stopped working.

Within 16 hours, she was paralysed from the neck down. She had had no symptoms prior and it came out of nowhere. I can’t imagine how scary that must’ve been for a child and her family, too!

10 minutes after she first lost use of her arms, they pulled up to the urgent care centre and she couldn’t walk to get out of the car. She could use her legs, but had no strength to walk. Her mom had to carry her inside. She was airlifted to the emergency room and then…

The doctor said she was faking it. Medical misogyny at its finest — a paralysed child, a girl, who must be faking it. He ran no tests.

They put a popsicle in her hand, which was freezing but she couldn’t feel it, and tried to coax her to move her arm to have the popsicle, saying it was her, “ticket out of there.”

Her mom begged and pleaded for them to take Sarah Todd seriously. The doctor refused to do anything.

After 6 hours, they kicked Sarah Todd out of the hospital and told her to come back tomorrow if she got “significantly worse.” They didn’t even provide Sarah Todd a wheelchair to leave the hospital, her mom had to ask for one.

Poor Sarah Todd got her hopes up because of this gaslighting and went to bed excited to wake up okay in the morning. Her hopes were crushed when she woke up totally paralysed from the neck down. They called the ambulance and were taken back to the hospital, but had to ask for them to turn the sirens on!

Thankfully, Sarah Todd was seen by another doctor who actually ran tests and she was found to have a C1-2 spinal injury. She was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis which is a rare and acute neurological disorder. However, in 2018, she was re-diagnosed with Acute Flaccid Myelitis, another rare neurological condition that causes neurological damage similar to Polio. It is caused by an infection.

She was in the ICU for 12 days because of reduced lung function, then the hospital for 2 months. She began plasma exchange treatment and was able to move her big toe — she said this is when she knew she’d walk again. She spent the rest of her time in the rehab unit and slowly regained the use of her legs. When finally discharged, she walked out of the hospital with some assistance.

Sarah Todd wasn’t able to gain much strength in her arms so she can’t lift her shoulders, her left hand is fully paralysed, she can move her right hand but it is very weak. She still does not have full leg strength but she has never had to use a mobility aid again.

A lot of her content has focused on how she adapts to life with her disability, particularly her arm paralysis and weakness. When she went to university, she showed all the adjustments she got to her dorm room and the support she received with classes and navigating campus. She excelled at university and, during her time there, was extremely engaged with disability advocacy.

Sarah Todd even got to meet one of her heroes because of her advocacy — Judy Heumann (shown in image 2). Judy, who has sadly since passed, was a hugely influential figure in the disability rights movement and was a key part of the ADA passing. I can’t imagine how thrilled Sarah Todd must have been to meet her! That would be a dream come true — I’m beyond jealous!!!

Sarah Todd loves fashion and shows her adaptive clothing and how she gets dressed and styles herself. She still loves dance and began working on choreography after her injury. She reviews accessibility adaptive equipment and has shared her driving journey, and covered her university journey extensively. Her content and advocacy has been wonderful for sharing her complicated and beautiful life with disability. Sarah Todd is MORE than confident calling out ableism and educates people whether they like it or not!

She said she went through a period of mourning her pre-disabled life, but she had found happiness and her disability inspired her to pursue her passion of advocacy.

She is a three times published author. Sarah Todd co-wrote and published her first memoir 5K ballet, in 2013, at only 11 years old! Since then, she has published the sequel entitled Determination, at 14 years old in 2016, and her third book in the trilogy entitled Up and Down, in 2018 at 17 years old. These books cover her journey with disability and explore her passions, including ballet.

A portion of the proceeds of her books went to the Siegel Rare Neuroimmune Association (SRNA), the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (ICSCI) at Kennedy Krieger Institute, the Center for Courageous Kids Family Camp, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

She has 154.5K TikTok followers, 117K Instagram followers, and 165K YouTube subscribers. I would highly recommend following and getting to know her content!

One thing Sarah Todd currently posts about is her passion for parents to stop posting their disabled kids on social media for content. She feels sharing kids’ intimate moments, private medical information and diagnoses, their doctors appointments and surgeries, is exploiting disabled children — sometimes for profit. Children can’t consent to certain things, especially children with intellectual disabilities, so I can see why she feels this is exploitative.

I see similarities to this passion for her and how historical performers were exploited, often as children. Some historical performers had terrible childhoods where they were treated as spectacles rather as children, as people. Some children, often children of colour and disabled, were kidnapped to be forced to perform in sideshows.

[TW for sad childhood stories. End of TW will be in closed brackets after]

Willie Muse and his brother George were historical sideshow performers who were born with albinism. They were kidnapped when they were under the age of 10 by a showman and forced to perform for 18 years. They were even lied to and told their mother had died. Their mother never stopped searching for them, and beautifully they were eventually reunited.

Millie and Christine McKoy were conjoined twins born into slavery. They were sold multiple times and purchased by a showman who forced them to perform. They were treated inhumanely and passed around by adults who did not care for them. They ended up in England and their mother Monemia travelled to England to find them and brought them back to the US.

Victoria and Cassie Foster, and their brother Dudley, were exploited by their own parents. They were born with dwarfism and paraded around as though they weren’t people, children. The girls sometimes performed musical acts three times a day for weeks on end. Audience members could pay extra to hold them. They died very young, before Dudley was born. He was then exploited, too.

[End of TW]

These examples are obviously extreme compared to exploitation of disabled children on the internet, but I feel it echoes back to these historical themes.

A historical performer who actually reminds me of Sarah Todd is Isaac Sprague. It’s unknown what his condition was, and his symptoms differed from Sarah Todd’s, so I’m not saying it’s the same condition — but his story reminds me of her.

He was an avid swimmer (like Sarah Todd was a ballerina!) but as a teenager came down with an unknown illness that made him extremely week. After he recovered from the initial illness, he lost weight dramatically and continued to until his death — leaving him with an emaciated and atrophied appearance. He sought a cure but unfortunately never found one.

If Sarah Todd had been born back then, it’s possible she could have gone down a similar path of never receiving a diagnosis or treatment. She had a hard enough time in the modern day!!!

Similarly, if Isaac had been born now, there’s a decent chance he would have gotten a diagnosis and treatment — or at least answers! That could have changed the trajectory of his life.

That’s why I love to write these contemporary write ups, as when comparing modern people to historical performers, it’s easy to see the parallels of their lives and to appreciate how much they have in common, yet how much things have differed because of progress in human rights, medicine, technology and KINDNESS!!!