Kelly Cutrone is calling out Jay Manuel for his alleged mistreatment of Tyra Banks after working together on America’s Next Top Model.
“I just think that whole thing was disgusting,” Cutrone, 60, said during the Tuesday, June 2, episode of the “Chris vs. the People” podcast, referring to Manuel’s choice to write a fictionalized book called The Wig, The Bitch & The Meltdown, which many readers think was inspired by Banks, 52.
Cutrone also took issue with how Banks was portrayed on Netflix’s Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model exposé, in which Manuel, 53, served as a central figure and didn’t hold back his criticism of the ANTM creator.
“She got done dirty on that f***ing documentary,” Cutrone claimed of Banks’ depiction in the February docuseries. “Could she have worn a better silhouette? Yes, but there were a lot of tricks that the people that made that show pulled on her.”
Cutrone, a well-known fashion publicist, said that she loves both Banks, who created ANTM, and the show’s producer Ken Mok, who were slammed in the docuseries for their alleged mistreatment of the models on the reality show. The documentary explored some of the show’s most controversial photo shoots, beauty standards and how every new season aimed to push boundaries.
“I always stand behind the truth. She got done dirty on that,” the former Hills star added. “I’ve known Tyra since she was 16, but we weren’t buddy, buddy.”
Cutrone explained that she was on the ANTM panel from seasons 18 to 22, which is when she crossed over with OG stars Nigel Barker and Miss J. Alexander and Manuel, the latter of whom she claimed went on the docuseries as a ploy to gain more fame.
“They asked me to be on that documentary a million times. I was like, no f***ing way,” Cutrone alleged. “I was the publicist, I already knew, like, ‘What the f*** am I doing here? Going on this thing for free because I’m trying to sell a book like Jay Manuel?’ Please, dude, you were a f***ing makeup artist at a MAC counter in f***ing Toronto.”
Cutrone claimed that Manuel’s life completely changed because Banks hired him and brought him onto the show, only for him to publicly attack her in the documentary— and within his book.
“She smiled on you and waved her wand. How do you repay her? You write a fictionalized book where you make yourself look like Karl Lagerfeld,” Cutrone said, referring to Manuel’s 2020 novel, which is about a reality show host named Keisha Kash, who is ruthless in every way.
Cutrone blasted Manuel’s alleged betrayal of Banks, saying, “That chick f***ing fed you, took care of you, raised you, and this is how you say thank you? F*** off!”
Cutrone also claimed that Manuel wanted to be part of the documentary as some sort of retaliation for Banks firing him from ANTM.
Manuel claimed in the docuseries that he felt pressured to stay on the show after Banks allegedly emailed him that she was “disappointed” in his desire to leave the show after cycle 8.
After Manuel returned the next season, he said his role shifted and his dynamic with Banks was never the same. “I was just talent. So, it was just very, very, very uncomfortable,” he exclusively told Us Weekly in July 2020. “What was difficult for me was, you know, when the cameras were on we’d talk, but when they were off, I had no communication. It was uncomfortable.”
Cutrone, meanwhile, claimed that after Manuel was let go in 2012 he “got so ass-chafed” that he wrote his book in retaliation.
She took another jab at Manuel, alleging, “Nobody knows who you are, nobody cares about you. The only time that people speak about you is when you talk about Top Model.”
Cutrone, for her part, said that she turned down the opportunity to take part in the Netflix project because she had “nothing bad to say about” Banks.
She alleged that Manuel, however, was all too willing to appear in the docuseries. Cutrone mocked him, joking that Manuel said, “I’m going to get some face filler and come and talk s*** about the person who supported me.”
Cutrone called the entire situation “gross,” insisting that she was “not saying anything other than when I was on the show, that was my experience.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Manuel and Netflix for comment.
