While Netflix America’s Next Top Model re-examined docuseries Shandy SullivanOn-screen sexual abuse – including what should have been cut from the final show – is a major producer Tyra Banks declined to discuss the incident.
During the three-part special, released on Monday, February 16, Sullivan reminisced about the season 2 that almost won before the team’s trip to Italy.
“When we got there, they said, you will go to a group of people who will witness it,” he said of the 2004 episode. “That was all day. It took all day. Then we went back to our little house where we lived.”
Locals driving the current models of Vespas joined the cast for dinner. But Shandi, now 43 years old, who had not “eaten anything” that day, recalled drinking “two bottles of wine” alone before one of the boys took advantage of the situation.
“I remember he was on top of me. I was black. No one did anything to stop me,” she said. “And everything was recorded, everything.”
Tyra, 52, who is the executive producer and host of the show, refused to expand on the incidents of sexual harassment that happened on television, saying, “I miss her story. It’s hard for me to talk about production because that’s not my place.”
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model gave Shandi a platform to share her unfiltered story about the situation. There was also insight from the creative director Jay Manuel and a major producer Ken Mok about what goes on behind the scenes.
Keep scrolling for the big reveal:
Shandi Sullivan Shares Painful Memory of Sexual Assault
Before joining America’s Next Top Model In 2004, Shandi Sullivan worked at a Walgreens in her hometown of Missouri. He was part of the second season of the then UPN series, where he reached the final 3 before the team’s trip to Milan.
“I don’t remember who said it, but someone was saying, ‘How would you feel about the boys coming over to eat with you guys? And we’re going to have wine and stuff,'” he recalled. “I’m just happy to have a night, we were just talking, drinking, I don’t think I’ve eaten anything or slept.”
Shandi could not remember the long night there.
“I remember getting into the hot tub, I remember April [Wilkner]Mercedes [Scelba-Shorte] getting into a hot tub. Then I suddenly remembered the boy looking at me and looked at him. And I was very drunk at the time. Everything after that is just a blur,” he continued. “I got hammered.”
When Shandi was said to be unconscious, the cameras were rolling. “I remember little bits. He threw me in the shower and then he just sat in the shower,” he said. “Then we were in bed. I just disappeared because of that. I didn’t feel the sex happening. I just knew it was happening. I just passed out.”
He concluded: “The next day I woke up, I said, ‘Holy s***, what happened last night?’ The king beat me to everything. It just overwhelmed me. I just sat down and cried.”
Shandi Sullivan Talks About the Effects of Sexual Assault
Although Shandi Sullivan was too disabled to consent to sex, the incident was presented as a case of cheating on America’s Next Top Model.
“I think after getting out of the hot tub and whatever happens after that, I think [production] it should have been like, ‘Okay, this is too much. We have to get him out of this,’” Shandi told the docuseries producers while executive producer Tyra Banks had a different response, saying, “It’s hard for me to talk about production because that’s not my place.”
His co-executive producer Ken Mok defended the decision to continue filming. “We treated Top Model like a documentary. We told the girls that on the first day they were going to appear. We were going to follow the rules like, ‘There will be cameras with you 24/7 – every day – and they will cover everything,'” she recalls. “‘It’s going to include the good, the bad and everything in between. No matter what happens — while you’re on camera — we’re going to document it all.'”
What Was The Team Told About Shandi Sullivan’s Beating After The Scene?
Creative Director Jay Manuel said that “then they heard that Shandi Sullivan was having sex in the shower with a boy,” adding, “The Top Model rule was that if you went into the bathroom alone, the camera couldn’t follow you.” But when he got into the shower, he wasn’t alone. So the cameras go in and film it. I don’t know whose decision this was, but now we can see whose decision it was already taken by its producers. the way to pass.”
Tyra Banks, producer and creator of America’s Next Top Modelthen she talked to Shandi about infidelity since the contestant was in love with her boyfriend at the time, Eric.
“Everybody’s messed up, Shandi, I’m not judging you, but I think we have to fight our fleshly desires,” he told Shandi at the time. I understand that people are attractive to other people. It’s all about your relationship and how open your relationship is and how honest you are with each other.”
Shandi Sullivan’s Infamous Call to Eric on ‘America’s Next Top Model’
Shandi Sullivan said in the Netflix press that she asked to call Eric but was denied. When she asks to leave, the producers try to stop her by giving her a phone so she can talk to Eric – a conversation they’ve filmed.
He remembers: “After I talked to Eric again on the phone, they filmed me talking to this guy and I asked myself, ‘Were you defending yourself? “Why don’t you just ask them yourself? Why should you record this? You already got me on the phone with Eric calling me a f***king bitch.”
All he needs is to sign! Tyra Banks started out as a model, but is perhaps best known as a TV host these days. This businesswoman took the world by storm when she launched America’s Next Top Model in May 2003. She also worked as a host and consultant. […]
What Didn’t Make the Final Cut After Shandi Sullivan’s Sexual Assault?
Jay Manuel recalled that Shandi Sullivan was sent to a doctor after the encounter, which was also recorded. Shandi was told by the cameramen that they felt bad for recording her phone call with Eric who broke up with her at the time.
Meanwhile, Tyra Banks, spoke to the broadcast version.
“I’ll tell you this. When I first started production and saw the movie, we reversed that scene dramatically … That was – for better or for worse – one of the most memorable moments on Top Model,” executive producer Ken Mok said before Tyra clarified in her own confessional, “I’m not the head of the news. That’s Ken Mok. But I knew we were going to be a big TV producer.”
According to Jay Manuel, the investigation was related to the 2004 Super Bowl show where Justin Timberlake briefly exposed Janet Jackson’s breast on live TV and the FCC investigation fined CBS $550,000 for wardrobe malfunctions.
“When that happened, the rules were very restrictive on what you could show,” Jay noted. “So they had to rush and reschedule that scene.”
Shandi Sullivan reunites with Tyra Banks on her Daytime Talk show
Three years after season 2 aired, Shandi Sullivan appeared on Tyra Banks’ daytime talk show, sharing the Netflix doc, “I told her I’ve never seen her. [that episode in Milan]. It just brought up so many things and I said, ‘I can’t watch this show anymore.’ Then he just puts it on the screen in front of me. I don’t look at it and I’m like, ‘I noticed you weren’t looking.’ I literally told you after that I have never seen you and I don’t want to see you.”
Shandi called out Tyra for disrespecting her wishes. “That was bad. That was painful. That behavior doesn’t stop. His behavior doesn’t change.” (Tyra did not address The Tyra Banks Show between her and Shandi.)
Where Is Shandi Sullivan Now?
After leaving America’s Next Top ModelShandi Sullivan briefly reconciled with Eric, saying, “We tried – he really tried. He moved with me to New York after the show. But it wasn’t fun when I was walking with Eric on the street and someone noticed me and called me *** to my face. Or [called me] a cheating whore with Eric standing next to me. It was fun. It made me hate myself.”
Shandi eventually returned to pre-ANTM job at Walgreens. He now earns a living by taking care of animals, participating in the end of the season. “I want to live on a farm and have a place to keep animals.” I have always loved animals,” he added.
Tyra Banks expressed her hope that she will do another season of America’s Next Top Model.
“After the show, I had a lot of different ideas about my life. I’m very busy with pivoting. And I live in Australia now,” Banks told the doctor. “I feel like my work is not done yet. You have no idea what we have in store for the 25th round.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
