‘America’s Next Top Model’ Alum Lisa D’Amato Compares Show to Stanford Prison Experiment: “Insane Amounts of Trauma”

By Samantha Nungesser @samjnungesser
Published April 21, 2023, 9:29 a.m. ET

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America’s Next Top Model winner Lisa D’Amato slammed host Tyra Banks and producer Ken Mok in a social media post where she opened up about the “insane amounts of trauma” she endured while competing on the reality series.

The model — who first appeared on the show in 2005 before returning and winning in 2011 — also claimed that Banks had blocked her on Instagram. However, she was still able to tag Mok in the post, whom she told to “kiss my ass,” per Entertainment Weekly.

As the buzz surrounding the show’s upcoming 20th anniversary grows, D’Amato wrote, “Plz plz be honest with yourself and everyone else when I say DON’T BE SCARED to truly tell how horrible it was in your interview. Don’t act tough. Be real. Don’t be scared of the fandom. Don’t be scared of Tyra or Ken Mok.”

She continued, “The light is coming through and more and more the fandom are on our side. Speak up and speak freely. Remember this is your life to [sic]! Fight for it! Do you know who is going to stand up for you if you don’t? Do you know who is going to save your life if you don’t?”

The ANTM alum concluded her post by comparing the show to the controversial Stanford Prison Experiment — a 1971 psychological experiment that put participants in a prison simulation.

“You also have my support,” she said. “That shit was the Stanford Prison Experiment to many of us. Google that shit.”

This isn’t the first time D’Amato has spoken out against the show. Back in January 2021, she said she risked a “breach of contract” as she felt it was her duty to “warn other girls” who planned to audition, per US Weekly.

The model claimed that they would “poke me and use my childhood trauma against me, day in and day out,” before adding, “It was just so fucked up, and it broke my heart. Like, how could you do that?”

Last year, a clip from a 2006 episode of Banks telling a contestant that she would never win the competition with the gap between her teeth went viral on social media.

In response to the backlash, Banks told her Twitter followers, “Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you. Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs.”