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Top Model "Crying Foul" Over Saleisha's Win
Adrianne Curry by Denise Truscello/WireImage.com
And surprisingly, the Top Model doing so isn't runner-up Chantal but Cycle 1 victor Adrianne Curry, the Playboy covergirl and black sheep of Tyra Banks' catwalking contest. On her MySpace blog, Mrs. Peter Brady suggests that "not only has [Saleisha] modeled before (Wendy's commercials, Tyra Banks Show runway model) but... she also had a personal relationship with Tyra from being in her T-Zone camp. According to my contract with Top Model, all of these things would keep you from even coming on the show, let alone win it.
"I agree with the majority in saying that this is not fair," Curry continues, adding, "I didn't think that they chose the girl who could actually model... but then I remembered that they are nine seasons into this show and have yet to be successful in making a real Top Model." Meow!
Though Curry goes on to say that "if I had been one of the other contestants, I would be crying foul everywhere I went," she is confident that Miss Tyra "will do the right thing in this situation. Heck, maybe after she is done righting this wrong, she could hint at the agency she placed me in to pay me for the work I did and won through her show? Been trying to get that check since 2003." — Ben Katner
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Dec 27, 2007 9:00 AM
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Boy, the more we hear about this show, the sleazier it seems. Not paid for the work done? The winner is a ringer? Tyra is losing more of my respect all the time.
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Dec 27, 2007 9:58 AM
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Well we all knew the fix was in for Saleisha to win from day 1 - If Tyra wanted to help her friend get into modeling she should have done it personally on the side, not through fixing her own show to have her win.
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Dec 27, 2007 10:42 AM
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Tyra Banks is a joke. Both of her shows are terrible. I have read several articles about how the fashion industry thinks the show is a joke and those girls go nowhere fast. I can't believe that this girl actually has two shows. I saw one of the girls, I think her name was Joclene...She looked like a freakin man! Um...her talk show...yeah the subject today was GAYDAR. How profound and intelligent! Great American, classic TV!!!!!!!
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Dec 27, 2007 11:26 AM
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I totally agree, Saleisha should never have won, She can not model at all her pictures are horrendous and the only reason she won was because she is Tyra's little favorite. I am now going to boycott all Cover Girl products and I strongly suggest that everyone who agrees does the same until this horrendous mistake is fixed
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Dec 27, 2007 11:35 AM
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I am now going to boycott all Cover Girl products and I strongly suggest that everyone who agrees does the same until this horrendous mistake is fixed
It's a show!!A reality show at that. Why take it so seriously?
I read on another site that the reason why none of these girls make it is because the designers don't want all of the attention on the model but on their product. I bought it at the time, but considering how all of the cover girls on top magazines, Vogue, Cosmopolitan etc. are famous actresses, not models, that logic doesn't fly. Perhaps not for runway, but why wouldn't it be an asset for the designers to have these girls show off your clothing?
There's something fishy about this show and why these girls aren't making it.
As for Saleisha's connection to Tyra, considering how incredibly dull this past season was, it seems like this is exactly the kind of controversy this show needs. I just hope next year that the controversy happens during the season and not afterwards.
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Dec 27, 2007 11:52 AM
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My understanding is that the few girls who manage to work from this show (usually not the winners) have had to downplay the whole ANTM thing. Some have been asked to use their middle names to disassociate themselves from this show. Elyse said on her LJ blog that some potential clients would cringe when they would see her white snake shot from C1 (and this was when the shots were actually good).
I've also read the theory behind designers not wanting a model foisted on them that someone claims is hot and that will detract from their vision. In Europe celebs on the covers of mags isn't as prevalent as it is here in the states. I know Adrianne and Tyra are not close and that Adrianne didn't get the things she was promised but she's managed to eke out a career. Most people know this show is a joke and that the girls who actually manage to work aren't the winners. Saleisha shouldn't have won (there is no good explanation other than blatant favoritism) and will fade into oblivion soon enough (although it did get people talking about this show so maybe Tyra knew what she was doing). On the other hand, say what you want about Jaslene (she's too mannish looking or too thin or can't speak even though models speaking is rare except in the Tyraverse), she does seem to be working.
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Dec 27, 2007 12:19 PM
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First of all, I'd take whatever Adrian Curry-Knight says with a grain of salt. She has a bad history with Tyra going back from when she won. So who knows if it isn't a case of sour grapes. She was nine cycles back, how does she know that the contract has not changed in that time. Not saying that I'm a big fan of Tyra, but she did point out in the first episode that she knew Saleisha and they were not strangers to each other. Also, Saleisha has not been the only girl to be on the show who has worked previously in the industry. Also, Sal appeared in one of the episodes in the cycle Danielle won, when Jade won the challenge of a VIP trip to LA fashion week and she took Nnenna & Dani with her. Sal was one of the runway models. You can see her if you DVR or Tivo it. It's just a quick glimpse. Anyway, the girl won the runway show hands down over Chantal, who looked like she was walking on one of the stilts. I loved Heather but let's be serious, she can't communicate well in the public eye, she couldn't deliver the most important product which was Cover Girl & she'll do well with commercial modeling as long as she doesn't have to interact. Maybe over time, she'll get better. Saleisha was chosen, she didn't hold a weapon to the judges head. Let's see if she can be as successful as Dani or YaYa or even Mercedes, Eva or Nnenna who have been steadily working both in the magazines here, in Europe and on television.
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Dec 27, 2007 12:29 PM
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regardless, it seems like nothing but sour grapes from adrienne. Her complaining about Tyra and ANTM is getting old now.
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Dec 27, 2007 12:59 PM
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Personally, I am so tired of most of these realty shows being rigged or tipped in someones position that my I don't feel that their appeal isn't going to last for many more years. I didn't think she had anything special, actually nothing at all so it makes sense that there was some cheating going on. I am a publicist in Orlando and there's much deception going on in this business then anyone would even believe. I hope you get your check soon, SAG is usually good at making sure you get your money if your having a problem. Bye!
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Dec 27, 2007 2:41 PM
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The most recent thing to pop-up is a pic of Saleisha standing side-by-side with Tyra on her talkshow during an epi around "The Look for Less." That is the most blatant. But since winners don't do as well, as previously said, she'll slide into oblivion soon enough.
The girls who are working in most cases are the ones who lose. Elyse has been working steadily. She does most of her work in Asia (runway, editorial, commercials [one with Chow Yun Fat]) and occasionally pops-up in an editorial here in the U.S. and works some in Europe. You can keep track of her through her LJ blog. C6 Mollie Sue (who dropped the Sue) is working steadily in Europe doing runway, editorial and occasionally pops-up in ads here. Based on volume of work most forums put Elyse and Mollie at the top as far as modeling goes. Yaya has done Old Navy and Oil of Olay and is doing movies. C5 Kim pops-up in ads from time-to-time and she was doing something on MTV. C7 AJ is doing work in Asia, mainly editorial. C7 Mel Rose is signed with a top agency and has been featured in a few designer campaigns (nothing big name) and does runway work. C7 Eugena has the SouthPole campaign and does runway. C8 Samantha has been featured in at least one designer campaign and should now be in Asia. C8 Brittany is signed with an agency and blonde and using her real first name to further distance herself from ANTM.
As for the winners, Adrianne and Eva are more famewhores than models. Eva tends to do a lot of nude work and I was told that for paid work that's good for a short model and seems to appear in movies that go straight to video. Naima went back to waitressing. She like Dani did have her CG contract extended though (I don't know if she's still with them though). Yoanna has her cable show. Nicole is working and has been a featured model for a couple of lines (like Old Navy style clothing) and done a commercial. Dani has done some runway and been featured in catalogs like JC Penney and Woman Within. Caridee is being a party girl. Jaslene has done runway and been featured in Lot 29 (like SouthPole) and booked a few editorial gigs as well.
If Saleisha does better than Adrianne, Eva, Naima and Caridee I'll be surprised.
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Dec 27, 2007 3:14 PM
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Tyra should switch the show to + size models to back up her claim that all women are hot.
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Dec 27, 2007 3:39 PM
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You know, an all "plus size" cycle might be interesting. CoverGirl doesn't have any problem with Queen Latifah being plus-sized, so using a plus-sized winner in their campaigns shouldn't be that much of a stretch (plus, with Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign, the idea of allowing a "real sized" woman be seen in a "beauty product" ad is at least a bit less rare than it used to be.) They could get plus-sized fashion designers to sponsor challenges or provide clothing for photo shoots, and if Seventeen refuses to use a plus-sized model for the traditional cover and however-many page photo spread, then a plus-sized fashion magazine could.
I'd love to see something like this - I think the exposure could work well given Tyra's frequent comments on every woman being beautiful (put the money where your mouth is, eh?) and the fact that there's at least a bit of a movement toward recognizing that showing "normal sized" women might help avoid some of the horrible effects that our unrealistic standards of beauty can have on girls could help make it be seen as "trendy."
And! If they did an all plus-sized cycle, at least they wouldn't be able to bring a "normal sized" girl in, let her think she has a chance, then kick her off a few weeks in and let all the toothpicks battle it out. They'd actually have to have a plus-sized winner.
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Dec 27, 2007 4:13 PM
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Might not be bad considering that 9 cycles of looking for regular models has yielded nothing in the way of a top model. I don't think Tyra would do it though. Her whole spiel about trying to find different kinds of beauty is bunk. When it comes down to it, she's going to go with what she and the sponsors want or find an in-between (unless the prechosen screws up so badly or self-eliminates). I'd cringe at the thought of her spewing a whole cycle's worth of "You've lost your spark" because all plus-size women are supposed to be jolly and carefree. She and Ken Mok would have to get a different sponsor from 17 although CG might be okay with it. Queen Latifah is a celeb which is something that Tyra seems to forget about. The day of the model as covergirl/spokesperson is over in the U.S. I also have little faith that Tyra would make better choices plus-size wise (too small, too old, too short, wrong body dimensions). The makeovers would be foul as well. Plus-size models are generally supposed to have pretty traditional hair as what they model is not over-the-top. She would still manage to screw-up the winner somehow.
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Dec 27, 2007 5:55 PM
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I think the idea of a plus-sized cycle is FABULOUS, as I've posted before. I also think it is the ONLY thing that will restore the credibility and integrity of BOTH Tyra the Tyrant and the show, which I have watched and mostly enjoyed [even when I hated it!] since Cycle 1 when Adrienne was the surprise winner.
If Adrienne truly hasn't been paid, that is absolutely reprehensible, and Tyra the Tyrant, be they friends or not, should look into it IMMEDIATELY, if only to clear her own name of any duplicity in this. It is inexcusable that Adrienne has not been paid, and it must be rectified AT ONCE for the show [and The Tyrant] to retain any kind of believability.
I also cannot believe that neither Tootie nor The Tyrant have not commented in the media about any of the rumours flying around and tarnishing their reputations. And I certainly don't believe they haven't heard them! Seriously, why hasn't either of them; or another producer or someone else connected to the show; addressed these things? It isn't going away and the longer they wait, the worse it gets. I understand that they might not want to give a rumour credence by addressing it, but it has reached the stage that by not commenting they are only making it more believable.
All that aside however, how do we get The Tyrant to run a plus-sized cycle? Any ideas?
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Dec 27, 2007 6:03 PM
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