"America's Next Top Model" Winner Adrianne Curry Pushes Back on 'Woke Lens' Reexamination of Reality Series: 'Absurd' Dave QuinnJanuary 27, 2026 at 8:30 AM 0 From left: Adrianne Curry; and Tyra Banks Adrianne Curry/Instagram; James D. Morgan/Getty Adrianne Curry declined to participate in Netflix's America's Next Top Model docuseries, citing distrust of producers and public scrutiny Curry criticized revisiting the show with a "woke lens" and expressed concern for how contestants may be portrayed The docuseries premieres Feb.
- - "America's Next Top Model" Winner Adrianne Curry Pushes Back on 'Woke Lens' Reexamination of Reality Series: 'Absurd'
Dave QuinnJanuary 27, 2026 at 8:30 AM
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From left: Adrianne Curry; and Tyra Banks
Adrianne Curry/Instagram; James D. Morgan/Getty
Adrianne Curry declined to participate in Netflix's America's Next Top Model docuseries, citing distrust of producers and public scrutiny
Curry criticized revisiting the show with a "woke lens" and expressed concern for how contestants may be portrayed
The docuseries premieres Feb. 16 and explores ANTM's legacy, including its groundbreaking diversity and controversial moments
Adrianne Curry, the first-ever winner of America's Next Top Model, is speaking out after Netflix released the trailer for its upcoming docuseries examining Tyra Banks' reality competition.
In a series of posts shared to social media on Monday, Jan. 26, Curry explained that while she's "deeply grateful" to have won the ANTM's first "cycle" in 2003, she objects to revisiting the show through today's cultural standards.
"I think people psychoanalyzing it over 20 years later with a woke lens is absurd," Curry, 43, posted on X.
Curry, who has left the industry and now lives in Montana with husband Matthew Rhode, said she declined to take part in the Netflix project out of concern over how her comments might be edited or presented.
"I don't trust people to not manipulate things I say for TV, so I decline everything," she explained. "Also, the public is cult-like and cruel, so the last thing I want is a bunch of eyeballs on me."
She added, via Instagram, that "I have zero trust in any producers, no desire to be really public in this day and age, and am hard retired from Hollywood."
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Earlier on Monday, Netflix dropped the trailer for Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model. The three-part documentary series, which premiering Feb. 16, explores every element of the show's legacy, from its groundbreaking visibility for models from underrepresented communities to the criticism it has faced in recent years over its harsh judging, commentary on contestants' bodies, extreme makeovers, racially offensive challenges, promotion of unhealthy lifestyle choices and treatment of contestants.
In the trailer, Banks, the show's creator and host, is seen acknowledging that she "went too far" at times during the show's run.
"It was very, very intense, but you guys were demanding it, so we kept pushing it, more and more and more," Banks, 52, said, as some of the series' most controversial moments are seen in flashes through the trailer.
Banks is featured in docuseries alongside executive producer Ken Mok, former judges Jay Manuel, J. Alexander (Miss J) and Nigel Barker. But their participation has some on social media questioning the "selective outrage" over Banks' past behavior.
"It's crazy that the Jays are acting like they can NOT believe the things Tyra was doing, but they were involved just the same," one fan wrote to Curry. "It was a different time. Modeling was about about pretty, skinny, and photogenic...much like today. Can't judge 20 years ago by today."
"Its a cover up fest," Curry responded. "Let 'em weave their webs."
The cycle 4 cast of 'America's Next top Model'
Hyungwon Ryoo/CBS Photo Archive/Getty
Former contestants and winners will also be included in the docuseries, including Whitney Thompson (ANTM cycle 10 winner), Shandi Sullivan (ANTM cycle 2), Dani Evans (ANTM cycle 6 winner), Keenyah Hill (ANTM cycle 4) and Shannon Stewart, the runner-up from Curry's season.
Curry expressed her concern on X about how former contestants will be portrayed.
"I hope the other girls do not have their words twisted in their Netflix show," she wrote, adding in another post, "I worry about the girls from my season who agreed to do it."
America's Next Top Model premiered in 2003 and ran for 24 cycles, helping introduce contestants who went on to careers in modeling, acting and advocacy like Eva Marcille, Yaya DaCosta, Lio Tipton, Winnie Harlow, Leila Goldkuhl, Nyle DiMarco and Isis King.
This isn't the first time Curry has spoken out about her time. In 2024, she told PEOPLE that she felt "betrayed and lied to by the show."
"That's the industry. That is what it is. It is cutthroat. It is lying. It is predatory," she said. "[America's Next Top Model was] a polished jewel that prepared me for the awful truth that I couldn't trust anybody, even people that I thought I could, and even knowing that I still got screwed over."
Still, Curry said, "I'm grateful that things didn't pan out the way they were supposed to because I don't think I would be a very good person if I had found major success in modeling."
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: January 27, 2026 at 04:45PM on Source: RED MAG
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