ANTM Winner Lisa D'Amato Says Contestants Subjected to 'Insane Amounts of Trauma'

The former reality star, whose account is private, also claims that Tyra Banks blocked her, per EW, though her other target in her appears to have not blocked her, as she was able to tag producer Ken Mok. TooFab has reached out to reps for Banks for comment.

According to EW, D'Amato wrote that she and the other contestants were subject to "insane amounts of trauma" during her time on the show. D'Amato first competed in cycle 5 before returning to win the all-stars 17th cycle.

Her post comes as the show approaches its 20th anniversary on May 20. D'Amato is anticipating heightened awareness and even some nostalgia-based media coverage for the show, which could include interviews with alumnae.

And so it is to these potential subjects that she penned the bulk of her message, urging them, "Plz plz be honest with yourself and everyone else when I say DON'T BE SCARED to truly tell how horrible it was in your interview."

"Don't act tough. Be real. Don't be scared of the fandom. Don't be scared of Tyra or Ken Mok," she continued. "The light is coming through and more and more the fandom are on our side."

"Speak up and speak freely," she emphasized. "Remember this is your life to [sic]! Fight for it! Do you know who is going to stand up for you if you don't? Do you know who is going to save your life if you don't?"

She wrapped her statement with a comparison to a controversial psychological experiment conducted in 1971 called the Stanford Prison Experiment.

Intended to be a two-week simulation of what life in prison was like, the experiment was stopped on the sixth day over concerns over how participants chosen to be prison guards were becoming increasingly brutal toward those chosen as prisoners.

The study had been heavily scrutinized and criticized for ethical concerns and lack of oversight, as well as the fact participants were told they were allowed to leave beforehand, but then told they could not after it had started.

This is not the first time D'Amato has shared grievances with Banks or "ANTM." She has posted about her alleged concerns before on her Instagram and even spoke out on an episode of "E! True Hollywood Story," which she said was a breach of her contract.

In a video posted in January 2021, as detailed by Us Weekly at the time, D'Amato said that she knowingly did so "because I felt like it was my duty to warn other girls that were going to audition for 'America’s Next Top Model' to know that what you guys do and the way that you guys would poke me and use my childhood trauma against me, day in and day out."

"It was just so f---ed up, and it broke my heart," she added, tearing up. "Like, how could you do that?" Several other contestants, including Adrianne Curry, Jeana Turner, and Angela Preston, have also spoken out about their alleged negative experiences on the show.

In May 2020, in response to social media backlash over allegations of bad behavior, Banks' criticism of the gap in cycle 6 winner Danielle Evans' teeth, and controversial episodes that had contestants made up to look like different races, Banks weighed in.

"Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you," she tweeted at the time. "Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending you so much love and virtual hugs."