Eric Liebowitz / THE CW / Courtesy Everett Collection; Lauren Utter, Instagram
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Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model has fans of the reality competition series looking at the show in a new light
Ahead of the documentary’s release, cycle 10 contestant Lauren Utter released a page from her contract that she claims outlined different circumstances under which production wasn’t responsible for a contestant’s death
The post adds to conversations around production’s responsibility in different moments throughout the series’ run, from 2003 to 2018
America’s Next Top Model contestants are continuing to speak out in the wake of Netflix’s new docuseries, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.
Lauren Utter, who competed on Cycle 10 of the modeling reality series, shared a page from her contract on the show on Instagram, noting that production went to lengths to protect themselves from liability for anything that might happen to contestants during filming.
The caption reads, “I was on #antm and I didn’t 💀 ! Yay! Apparently @netflix is dropping a doc soon so I just wanted to share some souvenirs. Did you know if we 💀 on the show they assume no responsibility? Cool right?”
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The contract’s text allegedly shares protections for the show’s production, including, “I understand that during production of the Program, I may travel to various locations (including internationally). Without in any way limiting the scope of this Participant Agreement, I acknowledge and agree that should I be killed, injured or harmed during the transportation to or from any location in connection with the Program (including, out limitation, during the application process, selection process, the production the promotion of the Program or otherwise), this Participant Agreement shall [release] the Released Parties from any claim whatsoever in connection therewith, Including, without limitation, any claim based upon Producers’ failure to supervise, inspect or investigate the means and methods of my transportation.”
Another clause of the contract allegedly reads, “I also understand that during production of the Program I may be housed in one or more accommodations of Producers’ choosing. Without in any way limiting the scope of this Participant Agreement, I acknowledge and agree that should I be killed, injured or harmed while in or around such accommodations, this Participant Agreement shall release the Released Parties from any claim whatsoever in connection therewith, including without limitation, any claim based upon Producers’ failure to inspect or investigate such accommodations prior to my use of them.”
The release of the contract pages comes as cycle 2 contestant Shandi Sullivan shares her own experience with the show, including that production framed her assault on the reality series as a cheating storyline in the documentary.
Sullivan discussed how she believed production should have intervened for her safety. “I think after getting out of the hot tub, and like whatever happened after that, I think they should have f–king like… been like, ‘Alright, this has gone too far. We got it. We gotta pull her out of this.'”
Creator and host Tyra Banks and executive producer Ken Mok were asked about how production handled the situation.
“I do remember her story. It’s a little difficult for me to talk about production because that’s not my territory,” Banks replied.
“We treated Top Model as a documentary. And we told the girls that,” Mok said. “We would go over the rules. There’s going to be cameras with you 24/7, day in and day out, and they’re going to cover everything — the good, the bad, and everything in between. No matter what happens while you’re on camera, we’re going to document all of that.”
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is streaming now on Netflix.
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