By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell have been rumored to have had some sort of feud for years. Tyra eventually confirmed things when she invited Naomi on her talk show to discuss the issues she was having with Campbell behind the scenes in the fashion industry. Naomi made it clear that she didn’t have a problem with Tyra, and stated that she felt a lot of the drama was being manufactured by the industry because both of them are women of color in an industry that is dominated by Caucasians. Although they appeared to have patched things up on Tyra’s show, rumors are suggesting there’s bad blood between them again since Naomi’s new modeling show “The Face” is similar to Tyra’s modeling competition “America’s Next Top Model.”
While America’s Next Top Model is losing its steam, Naomi’s show is quickly becoming a fan favorite. As a result, the tabloids are claiming that Tyra is furious with Naomi for creating a show so similar to hers (the network even hired Tyra’s former ANTM judge Nigel Barker) and she feels Naomi is using the show to stab her in the back. But Naomi says that there’s no feud between her and Tyra, and she thinks the industry is just trying to pit two women of color against each other to create tension.
In a recent interview with Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live,” Naomi says:
“The last time I contacted Tyra, we are in a good friendship. It does bug me and irk me that two women of the same elk, women of color, have to be pitted against each other. And that’s something I’ve always felt back then. You can have more than one woman of color in a fashion show.
“Unfortunately, back then, it was like ‘Okay, we’ll just have one,” so the other one would feel like ‘Oh she put me out.’ And when I did Tyra’s show, we cleared that up.
“I’m very proud of Tyra, what she’s done with America’s Next Top Model, which is now all over the world, is a great achievement. She should be extremely proud. I’m proud of her. I’m proud to know her. I’m not into the pitting game.”
Check out the interview below:
Naomi has been around a lot longer than Tyra has…she knows the game. It’s a shame how people won’t let multiple black women be great at one time. Smh.
Naomi is smart. That’s exactly what’s going on. Tyra got on my last nerve on the show when she kept bringing up that petty he said and she said stuff like she couldn’t figure out what people were trying to do. Naomi peeped game a long time ago. It’s sad, but the fashion industry isn’t the only one that does black women like this. Even the music industry does this. Smh.
And this is why I love me some Naomi Campbell!
Naomi’s smart to see what’s really going on. Too Tyra took things so personal. There’s room for both of them to do well.
Love this chick.
Naomi is very real. She gets it and one day Tyra will do. The fashion industry is a cold place. They will try to pit black models against each other to keep the number of them there low.
#TRUTH