For years, she was America’s top model.
Now, Tyra Banks is at risk of becoming “so last season.”
How did one of the world’s most sought-after beauties suddenly lose her luster?
This is the downfall of Tyra Banks.
"Oh my God she's fashion roadkill!"
She quit the runway
Banks’ first misstep came when she decided to retire from modeling in 2005...at 31.
At the time, she claimed she wanted to go out on top and “be like the athletes who
seem stuck in time.”
But nearly a decade into retirement, it seems unlikely that her dreams of Michael Jordan-style
immortality will come true.
Also unlikely: a return to the runway.
Asked by Bravo’s Andy Cohen whether she’d consider a Victoria’s Secret Angels reunion
show with Gisele Bündchen and Heidi Klum, she said:
"I don't know if I would.
But whenever I see them, I feel like we have a connection, these Angels, because we're
like the O.G.
original Angels."
Her talkshow got canceled
After five seasons, Banks’ talkshow, appropriately titled Tyra, was canceled in May 2010.
It featured a mix of female empowerment messages, sometimes messy monologues, and antics by
the former model, all of which took a turn for the worse in later seasons.
Banks and her team sought out drama-filled guests to boost sagging ratings.
But the show's new personality made it look less like The Oprah Winfrey Show and more
like Jerry Springer.
Needless to say, the change in direction did not help Banks.
TypeF.com floundered
In March 2011, Banks put her name on the line by launching the style site TypeF.com, which
offered personalized beauty and fashion tips.
Although the glitzy launch brought in lots of initial traffic, page views and site visits
suffered a steep decline over time.
As explained in a 2013 Adweek story, the site essentially died after content seemed to dry
up.
Banks' face disappeared from the site.
Headlines pointed to two-year-old content.
At the time this video was made, Banks' former site redirected to an EHow.com fashion and
beauty page, and its social media accounts hadn't been updated in years.
Oof.
America's Next Top Model was axed
Need another sign that Banks' supermodel influence isn't what it used to be?
Look no further than the demise of her formerly beloved reality-competition show, America's
Next Top Model.
After 22 cycles, the catwalk competition was officially axed in December 2015.
In its final seasons, the once popular show’s ratings were on the decline—and, frankly,
so was the talent Top Model was attracting.
The ever-changing panel of judges, some rumored to have beefs with Banks, didn't help either.
FABlife got the boot
What’s a surefire way to lose credibility?
Make the same mistake twice.
Such was the case when Banks’ second failed talk show, FABlife, ended in a fiery ratings
disaster in January 2016.
Trouble plagued the production from just about day one, most famously when Banks quit just
two months into its debut season.
At the time, Banks called the decision to leave "difficult," but insiders said she left
because she was duped into believing she'd have creative control of the show.
The cast didn't appear to stay in sync after Banks' exit, and the show soon folded.
Unforgiving headlines also pitted Banks against co-host Chrissy Teigen, which added fuel to
the theory that sometimes models just can't get along.
She habitually quits projects
While quitting a high-profile show after two months may seem like a real head-scratcher,
it’s actually part of Banks’ business M.O.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal in 2015, Banks said she prefers to leave her projects
right before things start to cool off:
"Having a sense of the hotness, but it's cooling a bit, but the outside doesn't know it yet.
So it's before they know it, where you pivot and you look like a genius, like, 'Oh my gosh,'
and then you also look very brave."
Tyra Beauty's facade
Around the same time FABlife debuted, Banks also launched a cosmetics line called Tyra
Beauty.
That business venture promised products for real women that would have consumers "werkin'
that hallway like a runway" while offering careers for true believers, or “Beautytainers,”
who wanted to try their hand at Avon-style direct sales.
She earned points for giving her products names like "Smack My Fat Lash" and "Ask for
a Raise."
But Reddit users busted Banks for using social media marketers to beef up Tyra Beauty's reviews.
The press, meanwhile, had a field day with her claims that she went to Harvard Business
School to prepare for launching the company.
Turns out: Banks' "Harvard" experience adds up to a single non-degree certificate course:
"Welcome to Harvard."
What's next for Tyra Banks?
Obviously, a number of things haven't gone Banks’ way over the last few years, but
it hasn't been all lemons for her.
Case in point: Banks and her boyfriend, Norwegian photographer Erik Asla, welcomed a son, York
Banks Asla, in January 2016.
"Of all the fashionable hats I wear, I love being a #mother the most," she posted on Instagram
in May 2016.
Banks will also star in a sequel to her hit Disney Channel movie Life-Size—and given
that Disney owns roughly half of Hollywood these days, that's a paycheck well worth cashing.
In other words:
"Kiss my fat ass!"
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