‘America’s Next Top Model’ alum Ebony Haith took ‘a long time’ to heal after starring in cycle one

Ebony Haith, who starred on cycle one of “America’s Next Top Model” opens up about her experience and where she is now.

When the world first met Ebony Haith as a contestant on the first cycle of “America’s Next Top Model” in 2003, she was presented as the “angry Black woman,” a depiction she says took years to fully unpack and heal from.

Netflix’s new docuseries, “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” which premiered Monday, Feb. 16, revisits her tumultuous experience on the show as part of its three-part deep dive into the franchise’s legacy and controversies.

“It took me a long time to really heal fully [over] the misdirection of my character and the truth of who I truly am,” she told People magazine in a recent interview.

During the debut season, Haith, a New York City native, says she was frequently singled out and ridiculed about her skin and hair. The show also outed her at a time when being openly gay felt especially unsafe. As part of the series’ signature makeover episode, she received a haircut from someone inexperienced with her texture, which left her with bald spots. Looking back, Haith believes the treatment she endured fed into a broader narrative that framed her as the stereotypical angry Black woman among the contestants.

Watching the episodes after they aired, she said, “saddened” her because she felt she was never given a fair shot. At the same time, she came to understand the mechanics behind what was unfolding.

“This is about ratings. And that for me really woke me up in that moment,” she said of her realization.

“Looking at the whole narrative of creating the angry Black girl, I also felt like it was creating something that was proving that I had a reason to be angry,” Haith continued. “And I think that came from that level of treatment and then dealing with the behavior of the dishonesty and trying to push a narrative.”

In the years since she appeared on the show, Haith continued modeling and acting and is currently working on getting funding for a one-woman show.