Tyra Banks Allegedly Wouldn't Participate in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show if Naomi Campbell Did

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is always packed with surprises, from unexpected performances to stunning supermodel catwalks. This year was no different, as Tyra Banks broke a nearly 20-year hiatus to close the show out with an iconic strut.

Lighting the internet ablaze with excitement, the world seemingly welcomed Banks back to the game with open arms. Wearing a black bustier corset with a matching cape and strappy black heels, Banks proved at 50 years old she's still the most iconic supermodel to touch the runway.

But her return may have come with one specific condition: Naomi Campbell could not participate.

According to a 'RadarOnline' source, Banks was the "Only model that demanded her own private dressing room — everyone else shared. Insisted if they wanted her, they couldn't also have Naomi Campbell."

Banks and Campbell both rose to superstar fame in the fashion world at a time when Black models were seldom seen on the runway, and rarely pictured on magazine covers. Despite each model shattering glass ceilings for women of color, they were embroiled in a fiery feud beginning nearly 30 years ago.

The former 'America's Next Top Model' host invited Campbell on her now-defunct talk show, 'The Tyra Banks Show,' to address their beef in 2005.

Banks, 50, accused Campbell of once saying backstage at a fashion show, "You'll never be me. Don't think you can be me." Banks also told Campbell that she "called me the B-word and said, 'We have a photoshoot to do in Anguilla and it's not going to be pleasant if you're talking about me like that.' "

Campbell denied Banks' recollection, saying, "I'm not someone to go and give myself away and say that to anybody. I've never said that in my life. If that's what you remember, I accept that person, but that doesn't sound like me to people who know me."

Campbell, now 54, ended up apologizing to Banks before the pair hugged it out.

During the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which premiered on October 15, 2024, from Brooklyn, Banks was seen interacting with the new generation of models, posing with Bella Hadid and Alessandra Ambrosio while praising Tyla following her "Water" performance.

The most electrifying moment of the night was Banks gracing the stage, which she told 'Harper's Bazaar' felt like an "out-of-body experience."

Reflecting on the increased diversity on the Victoria's Secret runway, she noted, "I feel like I cracked it open, and now that they're burst open, I'm so excited."

The Inglewood, California, native was unequivocally the model everyone wanted to pose with, dazzling the audience with over-the-top reactions.

In recent years, Banks has moved on from modeling, channeling her creative energy through new business ventures. She's the force behind her very own pop-up ice cream Smize & Dream, a callback to her 'America's Next Top Model' days.

Banks, a mother of one son, York Banks Asla, who was born via surrogate in January 2016, founded the company during the Covid-19 pandemic, selling prepackaged pints in Los Angeles before opening pop-ups from Dubai to Washington, DC.

Tags

Tyra banks, Naomi Campbell, Victoria's secret fashion show