Usually celebrity drama has to do actors, singers, or rappers. But in the early ’90s, supermodel drama was in. Human gazelle and French Vogue’s first Black covergirl Naomi Campbell had been walking runways, posing for American and international magazines, and making great strides for Black women in the world of modeling since her teens. No one was as powerful as Campbell.
But another young, beautiful, and “smizing” Black model started emerging soon after. Her name was Tyra Banks, and by age 17 she was signed to Elite Model Management and traveled to Paris. Banks booked show after show and was a huge fan of Campbell’s, but the new, pretty competition had Campbell more peeved than flattered. “I had a very painful early days in Paris,” Banks told The Wall Street Journal in 2019, “The woman that I was looking up to seemed like she just didn’t want me to be there and was doing everything in her power to make me go away.” In 1993, when the two were both scheduled to walk for Chanel, Campbell reportedly told Karl Lagerfeld, “It’s either [Banks] or me” (via NY Magazine).
The “feud” was really one-sided, considering Banks was a fan who was just trying to follow in Campbell’s footsteps. So, Campbell’s upset with Banks, probably, had to do with her fear of being replaced as the token Black supermodel. When she got her talk show, Banks invited Campbell on to make public amends.
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Nicki
