Jay Manuel Opens Up About Reported Feud With ‘ANTM’ Host Tyra Banks

Within the new explosive tell-all docuseries, “Actuality Verify: Inside America’s Subsequent High Mannequin,” a number of personalities from the early 2000s actuality present mentioned a number of the collection’ most controversial moments and its place in popular culture historical past.

The Netflix documentary additionally explored Tyra Banks’ alleged fallout with Jay Manuel—one thing that occurred after the previous inventive director revealed he wished to step away from competitors collection throughout an earlier season.

Whereas the primary episode of “Actuality Verify” offers viewers a little bit of background on how “America’s Subsequent High Mannequin” got here to be, the second and third episodes delve into a number of the present’s largest scandals, together with Manuel’s relationship with Banks.

Manuel defined in one of many docuseries’ confessional interviews that though he initially liked filming the present, he was able to unfold his wings and pursue different alternatives after just a few years as the truth present’s inventive director.

Leaving, nevertheless, wasn’t as straightforward as Manuel thought it might be. “I simply felt like if I stated no to Tyra I might be letting her down,” Manuel stated in one of many episodes.

When Manuel lastly labored up the braveness to talk with Banks about his future on the present, he stated he had despatched her an e mail, and she or he replied with three phrases that may completely change their dynamic.

“I’m disenchanted,” the reported e mail stated.

Manuel shared that after he introduced his plans to depart the collection, executives referred to as and begged him to remain on for one more season so they’d have extra time to search out his alternative.

Manuel added that whoever he was talking to primarily threatened to have him blacklisted had he chosen to not return. “There was a warning that strikes the worry of God in you,” he stated. “You realize, individuals discuss being blacklisted. These phrases weren’t used, however I had suspected that that is what it will flip into.”

Manuel’s relationship with Banks is only a small portion of the docuseries, in keeping with an earlier report from The Blast. Along with Manuel, different judges, J. Alexander and Nigel Barker, together with creator Ken Mok, and former contestants Whitney Thompson, Giselle Samson, Shannon Stewart, Shandi Sullivan, Dani Evans, and Keenyah Hill, are additionally concerned.

The episodes take viewers on a visit down reminiscence lane, trying again on a few of “America’s Subsequent High Mannequin’s” most controversial moments, together with the race-swapping problem, how producers edited sure ladies to look, and the community’s determination to air Sullivan’s heartbreaking break-up together with her boyfriend, and what led to that.

At one level within the collection, Banks admits that at a sure level, issues on the set of “ANTM” obtained out of hand.

“I knew I went too far. It was very, very intense, however you guys had been demanding it, so we saved pushing it, an increasing number of and extra,” the previous Victoria’s Secret mannequin shared.

Concerning the season 4 race-swapping shoot (which has garnered a lot backlash from social media customers in the present day), Manuel admitted that he knew it wasn’t proper. “My mother and father are from South Africa, they grew up throughout Apartheid. I’m very conscious of that historical past and I simply stated, like, race swapping? Wow,” he stated on digital camera.

Manuel even claimed that he requested to be excused from the shoot however was denied. “I acknowledged that my function was beginning to have limitations and that shoot was occurring regardless,” he added. “If you happen to actually search for it, you’ll be able to see it on my face. Particularly the setup for the day the place I inform the women what we’re doing. I may inform. I used to be identical to, double swallowing, however I simply needed to do my job.”