Tyra Banks' Iconic ''We Were All Rooting For You'' Moment Happened 15 Years Ago

Tyra Banks uttered these infamous words to contestant Tiffany Richardson: "I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you." That moment turns 15 today!

By Alyssa Morin Apr 13, 2020 10:41 PMTags

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Tiffany Richardson didn't win America's Next Top Model in cycle four, but she did leave a lasting impression.

As fans of the reality TV series will remember, Tyra Banks uttered these infamous words to Tiffany: "I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you."

Believe it or not, but that iconic moment happened 15 years ago.

So here's how things went down: After weeks of challenges, photo shoots, hearing judges' critiques, Tiffany seemed to be disconnected from the competition. That became more evident during the episode, "The Girl Who Pushes Tyra Over the Edge."

Even more shocking? That week was a double elimination. 

Tiffany and Rebecca Epley were both going home that night. However, before the girls left the room Tiffany spoke up, which led Tyra to yell her infamous lines.

"Be quiet, Tiffany. Be quiet! What is wrong with you? STOP IT," the supermodel shouted. "I have never in my life yelled at a girl like this. When my mother yells like this it's because she loves me. I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you! How dare you!"

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"Learn something from this! When you go to bed at night, you lay there and you take responsibility for yourself," Banks continued. "Because nobody's going to take responsibility for you. You rolling your eyes... it's because you've heard it all before."

She added, "You don't know where the hell I come from. You have no idea what I've been through, but I'm not a victim. I grow from it and I learn. Take responsibility for yourself!"

Speaking to Buzzfeed News in 2017, Tyra said she would've done things a lot differently.

"I wouldn't have done it... Actually, maybe I wouldn't have aired it," she admitted. "It was such an emotional, visceral moment for me... I had so much love for this girl."

Tiffany also chatted with Buzzfeed in late 2016. She opened up about the OMG moment and her experience on America's Next Top Model.

"I would not take anything from her career... but she's a human," Tiffany shared. "I went into it thinking Tyra was f--king God. To actually see her and the vibe is completely different. It was just weird."

When it came to being critiqued, she recalled feeling like the judges were "roasting the f--k out of us." 

"Every time I did something wrong, I'd shut down a little bit more, and it just got to the point where I was over it. I felt like we were just there to be humiliated," she expressed. "It was like, 'What the f--k [else] could we do to them?'"

Tiffany explained that Tyra's rant was "1,000 times worse" than what viewers saw.

"You can go back to your house and sleep on your mattress on the floor with your baby," she recalled the supermodel telling her in front everyone. However, she also understands that the OMG moment made for good TV, even if it was at her expense.

"It was deep, it was passionate… the music's going, Tyra's beautiful-self yelling [at the] poor little black girl," she shared. "It was beautiful for TV. They love to see black girls struggling and somebody coming to save her... and that just didn't work out that way this time."

Fast forward to a decade later, and you'll see she's a "a completely different person." 

Tiffany and Tyra's moment has taken a life of its own, that much is true. You'll see it swirl around online in memes or it's something your BFF will tell you when you need to be checked.

Despite everything, Tiffany doesn't have any regrets over how things went down.

"I can't regret that, because it made me who I am right now," she said. "And I needed all of that."

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