Tyra Banks apologizes for not protecting ANTM contestant who was sexually harassed on set: 'She d...

Before Netflix's new docuseries, finalist Keenyah Hill previously opened up to EW about a cycle 4 instance involving alleged harassment from a male model. Tyra Banks apologizes for not protecting ANTM contestant who was sexually harassed on set: 'She deserved more' Before Netflix's new docuseries, finalist Keenyah Hill previously opened up to EW about a cycle 4 instance involving alleged harassment from a male model. :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/JoeyNolfiauthorphotoba4923fec03a4027868306485696ef41.jpg) Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at .

Before Netflix's new docuseries, finalist Keenyah Hill previously opened up to EW about a cycle 4 instance involving alleged harassment from a male model.

Tyra Banks apologizes for not protecting ANTM contestant who was sexually harassed on set: 'She deserved more'

Before Netflix's new docuseries, finalist Keenyah Hill previously opened up to EW about a cycle 4 instance involving alleged harassment from a male model.

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes *RuPaul's Drag Race* video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

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February 17, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET

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Tyra Banks apologizes to Keenyah Hill over alleged sexual harassment on 'ANTM'. Credit:

Supermodel and reality competition host Tyra Banks has issued an apology to *America's Next Top Model* contestant Keenyah Hill, over 20 years after Hill allegedly experienced sexual harassment on the set of a cycle 4 photo shoot in South Africa.

The 52-year-old *ANTM* host and producer addressed Hill's story in episode 2 of Netflix's new exposé docuseries *Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model*, which features interviews with Banks, judges Jay Manuel, Nigel Barker, and Miss J. Alexander, alongside producer Ken Mok and multiple former contestants addressing controversial moments in the reality competition series' history.

Hill's portion of the series comes three years after she spoke to ** about experiencing alleged sexual harassment during a photo shoot involving male models dancing around contestants. One of which, Bertini Heumegni, Hill alleged was "very aggressively hitting on" her ahead of the shoot — enough so that Hill actually spoke up and told producers she was uncomfortable in an exchange that was captured on camera and broadcast as part of the episode. Banks was later shown at the judging table coaching Hill on how to handle the situation, including suggesting that she use her "feminine wiles" to tell Heumegni to back up "in a fun way" in the moment.

Keenyah Hill and Bertini Heumegni on 'ANTM' cycle 4.

"I was trying to empower her with the information that I had," Banks says of the moment in the* Reality Check *docuseries. "I felt like that was empowering her based on the information I had. I thought that was the best advice, but it should have been, 'Stop,' down. And that's what would happen today."

She adds, "We all now understand the protections that women need, so I say to Keenyah, boo boo, I am so sorry. None of us knew. Network executives didn't know, and I did the best that I could at that time. But she deserved more. She did."

"Some of those things are also kind of a reality of the world, unfortunately. In the fashion industry, there's always been a lot of issues with, you know, sort of harassment. In any shape or way, whether you're a male or female model," Barker says in the series. "And not everyone is going to handle the same situation in the same way, but you as an individual should be able to stand up for yourself and say, 'Hey, no, this isn't working,' or figure it out and get the job done. There were people — *cameras* — everywhere!"

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In *Reality Check*, Hill alleges that she had to "fend for myself" during the uncomfortable moment with Heumegni, whom cameras captured asking for her phone number and grunting over Hill's shoulder as they danced during the shoot.**

"Mind you, they all have just this teeny tiny little piece of loincloth covering their members. Bertini was touching me, grabbing me; I felt he was taking advantage of the moment to touch me. I remember thinking to myself, *What would Tyra do in this situation?* Tyra would politely and professionally stop the shoot and let everyone know that she feels a little uncomfortable. So, that's exactly what I did," Hill says. "I didn't get the response I thought I was going to get. The looks on their faces were just like, *How dare you stop our production!*"

She concludes, "To be on a TV set in front of so many people and still not be protected is some pretty dark stuff."

Keenyah Hill during an 'ANTM' cycle 4 scene.

In her 2023 interview with EW, Hill noted that her discomfort was visible in her photo from the shoot that aired during the panel deliberation, pointing out that viewers could see Heumegni's hands touching her waist in the final shot.

Hill claimed at the time, "By the time we got to the set, I was *already* uncomfortable. While I was in hair and makeup, Bertini was like, 'You're so beautiful, I want to date you, I want to come to America and find you, I want to be with you,' trying to get my phone number. I'm telling him, 'No.' Three times, I turned him down." (Heumegni did not respond to EW's requests for comment at the time, but told Hulu's *IMPACT x Nightline *docuseries investigation into the moment: "It wasn't my intention to make her feel uncomfortable. I just wanted her to have a good picture.")

Elsewhere in *Reality Check, *the docuseries investigates several other controversial *ANTM* moments (including segments on photo shoots that tasked models with portraying women of different races and getting medical procedures to continue in the competition). The docuseries also sees Banks reveal that the show is scheduled to return for a new cycle.

"I feel like my work is not done. You have no idea what we have planned for cycle 25," Banks says in the final episode of the show.

In EW's past reporting, contestants elaborated on things not covered in *Reality Check — *namely, fellow cycle 4 contestant Kahlen Rondot speculating that producers might've purposely asked models to participate in a photo shoot inside a cemetery shortly after Rondot found out a close personal friend from home had died.

A spokesperson for Banks at the time explained to EW that "the shoot had been planned beforehand, and, as is standard with any production of this magnitude, it would have been near impossible to pull off an entire shoot change, especially if you factor in all of the location scouting, permit requirements, etc. that go into filming a competition series."

*Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model *is now streaming on Netflix.

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Source: Reality

Published: February 18, 2026 at 10:01AM on Source: MARIO MAG

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