Miss J. Alexander’s closest friends are defending their decision to create a GoFundMe page in support of the former America’s Next Top Model judge.
“Most people know these folks as judges — for me they are foremost my friends. None more so than the incomparable #MissJ who has been a strong force in my life for almost 20 years,” Hollywood talent manager and producer Steven Grossman wrote via Instagram on Sunday, February 22. “He recently shared publicly for the first time details of his debilitating stroke in 2022 that left him fighting to regain his speech and mobility ever since.”
Grossman explained that he started a GoFundMe page to help his longtime friend “with the overwhelming financial burden of medical bills and long-term care.”
“If Miss J ever made you smile or laugh — I hope you will consider donating or sharing with your community,” Grossman wrote. “Let’s all come together for someone who has inspired so much joy, confidence and individuality in all of us.”
The GoFundMe was created in the wake of Miss J’s appearance in the documentary Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, which premiered on Netflix earlier this month.
In the doc, Miss J., 67, revealed that he suffered a stroke three years ago and, as a result, still cannot walk.
“I spent five weeks in a coma and I couldn’t walk and I couldn’t talk. And I thought to myself, ‘What was I going to do?’” Miss J. said in the documentary after confirming he lived in the hospital for “one year and five months.”
When one follower asked Grossman why he was starting a GoFundMe “if he’s your foremost ‘friend,’” the talent manager clapped back.
Miss J. Alexander and Steven Grossman Courtesy of Steven Grossman/Instagram
“Because he kept it private for years until the Netflix documentary came out and it wasn’t my news to share,” he wrote in the comments section. “For clarity though I’ve never repped Miss J. He’s just a friend 😁.”
The GoFundMe has raised nearly $17,000 from nearly 300 donors — including former America’s Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker — at the time of publication.
In the Netflix documentary, Miss J. revealed that both Barker, 53, and his costar Jay Manuel visited him in the hospital. While America’s Next Top Model host Tyra Banks has not paid a visit, the pair have communicated about scheduling something.
“It was emotional. I cried. I am not ashamed to say that I cried,” Miss J. said in Reality Check when discussing his stroke and subsequent hospital stay. “Then once I was in the hospital, Jay and Nigel came to visit. I thought back to how we used to do shows together. I cry because I just miss them so much.”
America’s Next Top Model’s most memorable contestants aren’t staying quiet about their experience on TV. After more than 24 seasons, the reality show is being put under the microscope in a new Netflix docuseries titled Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model. While host Tyra Banks and judges J. Alexander, Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker […]
Miss J. served as a runway coach for the first four cycles of America’s Next Top Model before becoming a judge on season 5.
During season 14, Miss J. was replaced as a permanent judge on the panel by Vogue editor at large André Leon Talley.
Away from reality TV, Miss J. taught design at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia and wrote the 2009 book Follow the Model: Miss J’s Guide to Unleashing Presence, Poise, and Power.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usmagazine.com ’
