Do You Remember: “Kiss My Fat Ass” – Tyra Banks and The Swimsuit Drama
2000s fatphobia was a new level of nightmare fuel.
In 2007, model and TV host Tyra Banks went on holiday to Australia. She visited the beach and wore a strapless one-piece swimsuit with coloured stripes across the bust. The paparazzi took a few unflattering photographs, and suddenly everything went wild. The tabloids called her “Tyra Porkchops” and “America’s Next Top Waddle.” They posted before and after shots to show how Banks had gained some weight from her days as a runway regular. There was a sense of glee in the air, a chance to knock down a major beauty who made her money from projecting an image of so-called perfection.
It could have ended there. Tyra could have moved on or done an interview where she clapped back at the haters. Instead, she gave one of the most quoted monologues in daytime talk show history.
(Image via YouTube.)
Tyra spent the ‘90s being an in-demand supermodel, one of the true owners of that moniker at a time when the model became a mainstream cultural figure. She appeared on the covers of Elle and Vanity Fair, walked in shows for Chanel, Anna Sui, and Christian Dior, and did brand deals for CoverGirl and the Got Milk? campaign. She was the first Black woman on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
