Last week I posted about how Paulina Porizkova was fired by Tyra Banks. On Friday, I missed spotting this interview Paulina gave about the situation, but thanks to many of you who sent me the link, I had a very enjoyable weekend reading it over and over again. What was I reading? I was reading about how Paulina Porizkova doesn't really give a crap about Tyra Banks and that Tyra really messed with the wrong person when she decided to fire Paulina.
Paulina gave what is quite possibly the most charming throw someone under a bus interview in years. This is how you throw someone under a bus, then back up and do it all over again and still come out looking like a winner.
In an interview on the Billy Bush Show on Friday, Paulina had the following fun things to say about her experience on Tyra's show.
#1 - “I must admit I was having a little bit of an issue with Tyra being late for every judging. It’s six hours later and I feel like I am being told my time is not as valuable as hers. They pointed out that I should shut up and be grateful for the job and that Tyra is really busy. I think that my little hissy fits about ‘Well, we are all here on time. Why can’t she (Tyra)?’ didn’t go over all that well,”
I was going to say something really snarky here, but the thing is this shows Tyra has no respect for her employees. Yes, Paulina is ticked but she was making lots of money to be there. What we are forgetting about in all this is all of the crew who were also there for six hours and have homes and families and would like to see their kids and loved ones. If this happened consistently, then Tyra needs to schedule the shoot for six hours later than originally set. It's that simple. Paulina doesn't mention the crew because she is obviously focused on herself and her needs much like Tyra. Don't get me wrong. I love Paulina for saying this, but I think she forgets there were others waiting with her.
#2 “I wouldn’t know [what kind of person Tyra is] because all I know of her is literally when we are on set talking to each other in front of the cameras. That is the only time she would speak to me.”
Seriously Tyra? You don't make small talk? You don't talk about which stores do the best job of selling tranny clothes? You don't share Christmas party stories with your employees? I think Tyra is busy. What I also think is that she is disorganized and not efficient with her time. Either that or Tyra is the most inconsiderate person in the world. Hmmmm. OK, you're right, lets go with inconsiderate.
To listen to the interview with Paulina, click here.
Team Paulina.
ReplyDeleteI mean, come on, the woman married Ric Ocasek! She's way out of his league and still married him and is still married to him today. (I know that he was married when they met, but I'm going to overlook that for right now because they've been married for 20 years now.)
Plus we all know that Tyra is ALL ABOUT TYRA. I mean The Soup was right on. Rename the show America's Next Top Tyra or Tyra's Tyra Tyra Tyra.
I meant to add that I was going to overlook that he was still married because I don't know the full story and whether or not Ric was stepping out on his wife with Paulina.
ReplyDelete"This is how you throw someone under a bus, then back up and do it all over again and still come out looking like a winner."
ReplyDeleteLOL!
Here's the interview script:
ReplyDeleteWhat did you think of Teyona’s win?
Well, I was there. I had a hand in it. But you know what? Honestly, now that I’m off the show I can actually say it. I didn’t vote for Teyona.
Who did you vote for?
Allison. Well, I’m not going to name names. But two of us voted for Allison and two of us voted for Teyona and one of us had to cross the line over to the other one.
Of the three finalists, who do you think is the most likely to have an actual modeling career?
None of them.
Really? That’s sad.
I know. I’m really very sorry. But they’re not models. Look at the history of Top Model. When has a winner not fallen down into that great big hole where the other sock goes? When? That’s because you can’t pick models from a TV show. Those tall, long giraffe things that don’t really look real are rare freaks of nature. And finding a freak of nature with a personality, that’s like finding a double freak of nature. So you’d have a TV show once every 10 years.
You announced this week that you aren’t coming back.
I didn’t announce that. I announced that I was fired on my birthday—April 9th They timed it beautifully.
Well, I was trying to be diplomatic.
Oh, yeah. I don’t think they meant anything ill [by doing it] on my birthday. They just didn’t check. They’re not bad people by any means. None of them. Not Tyra. Not the producers. And I actually had a really good time with Nigel and Ms. Jay and Mr. Jay. It was great. It was a really fun job.
Why did they let you go?
Well, they said that Top Model needs to trim the fat. So they cut me. It came as a little bit of a shock. I was a little upset that I was fired roughly four weeks before the new season was starting. I was being told to go have a physical for the show and then I got fired. I think they could have done that better.
Who is going to pick up your duties?
Oh, I’m sure they’ll have plenty of guest judges doing that stuff. Clearly they didn’t need me so they got rid of me. That’s pretty much the end of the story. And I am refusing to go the polite route of [saying] we had scheduling differences because, frankly, people get fired. I got fired. That’s the way it is.
Stupid recession.
Actually a lot of my friends from the show got booted, too. Makeup and hair people. And I shouldn’t say this because this sounds bitter. But if Tyra came in on time, they would save somebody’s salary. If she actually showed up on time for the judgings and they didn’t have to pay a lot of overtime, they would save a lot of money.
Was that the case even when you traveled?
ReplyDeleteUh-huh.
Is this a cut that affects all CW shows or just Top Model?
I have no idea. But I assume it probably affects everything. But obviously Top Model is one of the top CW shows. So there are ways of arranging budgets if you don’t want to lose somebody. So it’s pretty clear that they didn’t so much mind losing me. That’s where my hurt ego comes in.
Do you think you did something to bring this on?
I did get pissy about Tyra being late a couple of times. I said, "I don’t think that’s right." And they told me I had a big ego. So maybe that had something to do with it.
So what do you have planned next?
Well, the nice thing about being fired is that after you get over the hurt part of I-can’t-believe-they-can-do-without-me, there’s a kind of freedom. I’ve been in L.A. all week beating doors for a job. “Hello, I’m available! Would you like to cast me in a TV show?”
If they ask you to come back as a guest judge would you go back?
No. I think there’s a little too much bad blood. I mean I don’t wish them ill. But do I want them to blossom without me? No. I’m not going to lie.
Do you have any advice for future auditioners?
Yeah. Go to Top Model only if you don’t want to be a model. These girls want to be models so desperately. And the fact is the show is not even looking for fashion models. They’re looking for personalities. It’s a Cinderella story. But [many of] the girls who succeed on the show won’t succeed [in the industry] because they’re not models. I have become friends with some of the models on the show and they actually have lost jobs when it came out that they were on America’s Next Top Model, because the fashion industry will not touch those girls with a ten foot pole.So they have to hide the fact that they were on the show?
Yeah. And if you’re a winner you can just flush yourself down the toilet. Unless you marry a Brady, in which case you have a career.
But some of the models, like Ya-Ya DaCosta, have found showbiz success.
Yes. Some of the ones who did not win have done much better than the winners for sure. But none of them have approached top model [status]. Out of the girls that we had this season: I think Aminat might have a future in shows because she’s a terrific walker, she has a great body, and she’s very tall. But that’s the closest anybody’s going to get to fashion.
Can you make a good living being a show model?
ReplyDeleteUsed to be in the good ol’ days. But I don’t know now. She might have to do Starbucks on the side.
A lot of young girls look up to the show and it really hasn’t produced a top model.
They haven’t and they won’t. And now they’re doing the short girls. Like that’s ever going to catch on in fashion. It might be terrific TV. But it’s not about reality.
Go Paulina! They didn't mention Elise (Season 1) who has been very successful and is still modeling full-time today, even though she's pushing 30. Also Katarzena (sp?) froma couple seasons ago is working regularly in Europe in high fashion.
ReplyDeleteElise is only doing the Asian market (a place models go to to build up their book - not somewhere they wish to have a career). 'Top model' means working the big 4 with the well known designers. No one on any of the NTM have/will reach that market.
ReplyDeletei say hire her for Project Runway Canada! I would love to see her and Iman tear shit up.
ReplyDeleteStiffkittens, are you referring to any NTM or just the ANTM? Because Alice Burdeau is pretty much successful..
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting that, Stiffkittens! I wanted to hear it but I'm at work so couldn't listen. I love Paulina!
ReplyDeleteThat exit interview from Paulina is the most reality I've ever seen from a reality show.
ReplyDeleteThe woman is talking about her ego, but in a healthy way, not in an "I'm better than everyone" way. That takes equal parts of intelligence and class to muster. And she's right -- finding a "top" model via reality show is about as sensible as finding a best friend via reality show. It may capture the audience's attention, but only in the same way a train wreck could.
It's too bad intelligence and class aren't really respected in Hollywood.
Add me to Team Paulina. I loved that exit interview. What a refreshing change from all that fake, nice talk most people do.
ReplyDeleteOMG!! I LOVE Paulina! Personally, I thought her campaign for Estee Lauder's "Beautiful" fragrance was terrific. She was dressed as a bride and I wanted to copy that when I got married. Simply stunning. And, obviously, smarter than Tyra.
ReplyDeleteI think when she says Hello! We're all here on time she kind of is implying that Tyra was doing a disservice to EVERYONE that had to wait on her.
ReplyDeleteI mean - she did say "we" after all.
paulina told the truth about this shitty show. these are NOT models. love her to death. she spoke the truth---i hope tyra had a stroke when she read this.
ReplyDeleteI love Paulina.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't she look like a prettier version of Mischa Barton in this photo?
Wow! I absolutely loved Paulina's interview.
ReplyDeleteThanks stiffkittens for posting all of it.
Tyra wants to be like Oprah and is doing the same things as Oprah. If the schedule was done properly and Tyra respected people, she'd be on time. Six hours waiting for one person is ridiculous. Not talking to anyone except on camera is something Oprah pulls, too. She doesn't even greet/say hello to guests until time comes for their spot.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the girls from this show are doing fine; they have careers going and making a living. They may never reach the heights of being a supermodel, but so what? They're doing what they love. It's enough.
Lady Metal - Alice did okay (i.e. she has runway filler - she would never have been a top model due to not having the 'look' or personality) when she was very skinny, but she gained weight and lost whatever success she had.
ReplyDeleteShe's now 'taking a break' from modelling (i read fashion sites, i'm not obsessed with the careers of NTM contestants lol). It’s sad because there are too few natural redheads on the runway :(
The most successful ANYONE on any TV modelling contests has been is Suvi and Ksenia (and many people haven't heard of either of them):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suvi_Koponen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ksenia_Kahnovich
Those that are meant to be big in the modelling world would have either been scouted, or have gone to agencies and been signed.
This ultimately makes the idea of 'finding a top model' flawed - why are they not with a modelling agency if they are so great (especially as many are too old to start)? It's like those 'modelling school' scams - agencies won't touch them either!
These girls are either very deluded/naive, or they just want their 15 minutes (given how many of the contestants turn to reality shows and dating ‘famous’ people, it's even harder to take them seriously). Also shame on Tyra for going along with this charade. SHE knows the truth, and just continues for her own gain. FUCK HER.
Also is it me, or is Tyra on something that is making her act even worse than before? Does Adderall make you act like you're on too much caffeine, and seem removed from reality?
I watched the judging part of an episode from the previous season, and something is definitely wrong with her (and from the side-eyes the other judges gave her, they know it too).
Me thinks that's how she lost weight, and is keeping it off. She obviously swapped from Alli after the 'shitting pants' story hit the net. Wouldn't want that to happen during judging, now would we?
I'm finished with Top Model. The judges kept propping up Teyana the whole season and I just didn't see why she was so wonderful. TaTa, Tyra.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Paulina didn't want to throw the crew under the buss by saying." We were really ticked off having to wait on her highness Tyra."
ReplyDeleteTyra the Abhorrent was never nice to her crew to begin with. If Paulina told how they got chummy; with her while waiting for MZ.Banks and exchanging horror stories;then Tyra would fire the whole crew.
stiffittens, when did Tyra poop in her pants? I must have missed that story.
ReplyDeleteAlso I read an article about a year ago that she is more interested in her talk show and wants to end ANTM in a couple of years.
I think she is too busy and unorganized to continue both shows.
It is way past time for her to end ANTM.
not on my dollar - It's here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.idontlikeyouinthatway.com/2008/02/tyra-banks-needs-a-diaper.html
I thought there was also a blind item floating around somewhere where the subject rearended someone because she was in a hurry because she'd pooped herself, in white pants even, and that the popular guess was tyra.
ReplyDeleteThanks stiffkittens, and I thought that blind item that whole mentioned was about Beyonce.
ReplyDeleteEwww... Tyra's certainly no role model for the would be models.
Paulina is one of those super-cool, intelligent Eastern European chicks ... i was in love with one of em once, coolest girl i ever dated
ReplyDelete