The episode where they get into the girls being victimized on set
I started this post on my phone while the credits were still rolling on Reality Check. The documentary episode with all the ways contestants were victimized on set ended with a shout out to “if you have an eating disorder…” What?! What about all the rape and potential rape victims? So much rape and no help lines. I was so horrified.
Then I took so long (I started this post more than 30 days ago) that even Jay Manuel had time to publish an op-ed piece in the New York Times about this episode. Read it here
I remember watching the episode where Shandi Sullivan supposedly cheated on her boyfriend 22 years ago with my roommates who didn’t care about modeling. The ads were so good. We were all there for what we thought was manufactured drama. To now be so far removed from what life was like when the original episode aired, it was so horrifying to watch Shandi recount what was really happening. Why didn’t anyone stop it? Even if the policies are built to create and protect the drama on camera, why not stop bad things? I’m so sorry she became roadkill in this runaway ratings machine just to entertain me back in the day.
Then there’s the part where Keenyah Hill recounts her experience on the show. She was one of my favorite contestants at the time, so I remembered a lot of the ways they tortured her. But in the documentary they get more into how it felt to literally stop the shoot and ask for help only to have Jay tell her to be professional. Then be given a bad critique for how her picture turned out. And she points out in the documentary that they picked a shot where the male model is grabbing her.
If you read the op-ed, Jay says Keenyah deserved more from him in that moment. He should have at least asked what was making her uncomfortable. It was Cycle 4, so he should have realized how much power he had on that set instead of asking producers and directors to make all the calls.
I think the episode should have wrapped up with a call to anyone in pain or danger.
Anyone who needs mental health or has a loved one in crisis can call 988
Text BEGIN to 88788 to reach the National Domestic Violence hotline or call 800-799-7233 if you need to talk through a situation and plan next steps
800-950-NAMI (6264) will connect you with community resources through National Alliance on Mental Illness for you or loved ones with possible eating disorders
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