Tyra Lynne Banks, American model, TV presenter and actress who is worth an estimated $90 million, has revealed the reason for her fall out with supermodel, Naomi Campbell.
According to Banks, the feud was related to the fact that Naomi was envious of her successful modelling career and upset at the fact that she [Naomi] would no longer be the undisputed top model of colour.
Speaking to Norwegian TV, Tyra Banks said,
“I got to Paris and it was very difficult. I did very well, very fast. But then the industry was saying, “Look out Naomi Campbell, here comes Tyra Banks. Naomi Campbell sit your butt down, this younger one is coming to take your place.
‘It was really unfair to her because the other models that weren’t black, like Kate Moss came up, we were the same generation, they weren’t saying, ‘Look out Christy Turlington, this cheek bone girl has cheekbones higher than yours! Get back!’ You know, so they weren’t saying that. ‘So, you know, it wasn’t fair to Naomi, but her response to this day was… I’m very scared of her. I don’t want to go too deep into the past, but it was very difficult, very, very.
“Some of the lowest times of my life I’m dealing with that. I don’t condone her actions and her response, but I understand where it comes from, because the world is saying “you’re not gonna have your spot, we’re gonna take your money, we’re gonna take your fame, go sit down, there’s somebody else.
‘‘You know, so that’s pretty serious. She reacted strongly, but I kind of understand where that was coming from inside of her.”
The two queens of the catwalk have however settled their differences and Naomi appeared on Tyra’s show with an apology.