While Netflix’s America’s Next Top Model docuseries reexamined Shandi Sullivan‘s onscreen sexual assault — including what needed to be cut out from the ultimate edit — executive producer Tyra Banks refused to debate the incident.
In the course of the three-part special, released on Monday, February 16, Sullivan recalled nearly winning season 2 before a bunch trip to Italy.
“Once we first got there, they said, you’re gonna go to a bunch of go-sees,” she said of the 2004 episode. “That was all day long. It took all day long. After which we went back to our little house that we were staying at.”
The locals who drove the aspiring models around in Vespas joined the forged for dinner. But Shandi, now 43, who had not “eaten anything” that day, remembered drinking “two bottles of wine” by herself before one in every of the fellows took advantage of the situation.
“I remember him on top of me. I used to be blacked out. Nobody did anything to stop it,” she claimed. “And all of it got filmed, all of it.”
Tyra, 52, an executive producer and host of the show, declined to expand on the sexual assault that took place on screen, saying, “I do remember her story. It’s a bit difficult for me to speak about production because that’s not my territory.”
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model offered Shandi a platform to share her unfiltered account of the situation. There was also insight from creative director Jay Manuel and executive producer Ken Mok about what took place behind the scenes.
Keep scrolling for the most important revelations:
Shandi Sullivan Shares a Harrowing Recollection of the Sexual Assault
Before joining America’s Next Top Model in 2004, Shandi Sullivan worked at her local Walgreens in Missouri. She was a part of the second season of the then-UPN series, where she made it to the ultimate 3 before a bunch trip to Milan.
“I don’t remember who said it, but any person was like, ‘How would you guys feel about having, like, the fellows that were on the mopeds come by and have dinner with you guys? And we’ll have some wine and stuff,’” she recalled. “I’m just excited to only have an evening. We were just talking, drinking. I don’t think I’d eaten anything in any respect or had any sleep.”
Shandi didn’t remember much of the night from there.
“I remember getting in the recent tub. I remember April [Wilkner], Mercedes [Scelba-Shorte] getting in the recent tub. After which I just remember the guy me and I checked out him. And I used to be pretty drunk at that time. The whole lot form of after that’s only a blur,” she continued. “I used to be hammered.”
While Shandi was allegedly barely conscious, the cameras kept rolling. ”I just remember little bits and pieces. He threw me within the shower after which just sitting within the shower,” she noted. ”After which we’re within the bed. I used to be blacked out for numerous it. I didn’t even feel sex happening. I just knew it was happening. After which I passed out.”
She concluded: “The following day, I woke up. I used to be, like, ‘Holy s***, what the f*** happened last night?’ All of it f***king hit me. It just flooded over me. I just sat there and cried.”
Shandi Sullivan Addresses the Aftermath of the Sexual Assault
Despite Shandi Sullivan being too impaired to consent to sex, the incident was introduced as a cheating story line on America’s Next Top Model.
“I believe after getting out of the recent tub and whatever happened after that, I believe [production] must have been like, ‘All right, this has gone too far. We’ve got to tug her out of this,’” Shandi told the docuseries producers while executive producer Tyra Banks had a unique response, saying, “It’s a bit difficult for me to speak about production because that’s not my territory.”
Fellow executive producer Ken Mok defended the choice to maintain filming. “We treated Top Model as a documentary. We told the ladies that on the primary day after they would show up. We might go over the principles with them like, ‘There’s going be cameras with you 24/7 – day in and time out — and so they’re gonna cover all the pieces,’” he recalled. “‘It should cover the nice, the bad and all the pieces in between. Regardless of what happens – whilst you’re on camera – we’re going to document all of that.’”
What Was the Crew Told About Shandi Sullivan’s Assault Behind the Scenes?
Creative director Jay Manuel said they “got word” that Shandi Sullivan was “having sex within the shower with a man,” adding, “The rule on Top Model was that should you went into a rest room alone, a camera couldn’t follow you in. But when she went into the shower, she was technically not alone. So the cameras went in and so they captured it. I don’t know whose decision it was but as producers do, this was a story point now and we’re going to see it right through.”
Tyra Banks, a producer and creator of America’s Next Top Model, subsequently spoke with Shandi concerning the infidelity because the contestant was in a relationship along with her then-boyfriend Eric.
“Everybody has tousled, Shandi. I’m not judging you. But I believe that we now have to fight against our carnal desires,” she told Shandi on the time. “I understand that folks do change into drawn to other people. It’s all about your relationship and the way open your relationship is and the way honest you’ll be able to be with each other.”
Shandi Sullivan’s Infamous Call to Eric on ‘America’s Next Top Model’
Shandi Sullivan said within the Netflix docuseries that she asked to call Eric, but was denied. She then requested to depart, which producers tried to speak her out of doing by then providing her with a phone to contact Eric — a conversation they then subsequently filmed.
“After I talked to Eric again on the phone, they really filmed me talking to the guy and asking him myself, ‘Did you wear any protection? Do you will have any STDs?’” she recalled. “Why can’t you simply ask them yourself? Why do you will have to film this? You already got me on the phone with Eric calling me a f***king bitch.”
All she needs is her signature smize! Tyra Banks got her start as a model, but she is probably more well-known as a TV host this present day. The businesswoman took the world by storm when she kicked off America’s Next Top Model in May 2003. She not only served as a number and mentor […]
What Didn’t Make It Into the Final Cut After Shandi Sullivan’s Sexual Assault?
Jay Manuel recalled Shandi Sullivan being sent to the doctor after the encounter, which was also filmed. Shandi, meanwhile, was told by the cameramen that they felt terrible about having to record her call with Eric, who broke up along with her on the time.
Tyra Banks, meanwhile, addressed the version that aired.
“I’ll inform you this. After I went into postproduction and saw the footage, we scaled back that scene in a big way … That was – for good or bad — one of the crucial memorable moments in Top Model,” executive producer Ken Mok said before Tyra clarified in her own confessional, “I’m not head of story. That’s Ken Mok. But I did change into a master editor. It’s essential for people to know that we didn’t put all the pieces on TV.”
In response to Jay Manuel, the censorship was related to the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show when Justin Timberlake briefly exposed Janet Jackson’s breast on live TV and FCC investigations fined CBS $550,000 for the wardrobe malfunction.
“When that happened, regulations clamped down on what you may show,” Jay noted. “So then they’d to rush and re-edit that scene.”
Shandi Sullivan’s Reunion With Tyra Banks on Her Daytime Talk Show
Three years after season 2 aired, Shandi Sullivan appeared on Tyra Banks’ daytime talk show, sharing within the Netflix doc, “I told her I’d never seen [that episode in Milan]. It just brought up too many things after which I used to be like, ‘I can’t watch this show anymore.’ Then she just puts it on the screen in front of me. I don’t have a look at it and he or she’s like, ‘I noticed you weren’t looking.’ I literally told you behind the scenes that I’ve never seen it and I don’t wish to see it.”
Shandi called Tyra out for not respecting her wishes. “That was awful. That was miserable. That behavior doesn’t stop. Her behavior doesn’t change.” (Tyra didn’t address The Tyra Banks Show moment between her and Shandi.)
Where Is Shandi Sullivan Now?
After leaving America’s Next Top Model, Shandi Sullivan briefly reconciled with Eric, saying, “We tried – he really tried. He moved with me to Latest York after the show. But it surely would suck after I’d be walking with Eric down the road and any person would recognized me and called me a s*** to my face. Or [called me] a cheating whore with Eric standing right next to me. It was fun. It made me hate myself.”
Shandi ended up returning to her pre-ANTM job at Walgreens. She now takes care of animals for a living, sharing at the top of the special. “I would like to live to tell the tale a farm and have a sanctuary for animals. I’ve all the time loved animals,” she added.
Tyra Banks, for her part, expressed hope of doing one other season of America’s Next Top Model.
“After the show, I had so many various ideas for my life. I’m obsessive about pivoting. And I live in Australia now,” Banks said within the doc. “I feel like my work is just not done. You will have no idea what we now have planned for cycle 25.”
In the event you or someone you realize has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).