Where ANTM’s Jay Manuel stands with Tyra Banks years after his ‘disappointing’ walk-out
She spoke about him for the first time
Jay Manuel is remembered for being involved in the biggest America’s Next Top Model fallout ever, and it’s all because he walked out on Tyra Banks. Now that Netflix has brought out Reality Check: Inside ANTM, I need to know where they stand with each other.
It didn’t end on good terms, and their friendship has never recovered. During the new documentary, Tyra refused to speak about him and said she should call him on her own. Jay, on the other hand, has claimed he was “iced out” by his colleague and former bestie.
Jay was responsible for directing and producing the shoots, and directing the models on how to pose. And the reason he left the show in the first place is because he questioned the show’s ethics, as it “was slowly depleting me and chipping away at my soul,” he said.
For the first time, Tyra Banks explains why Jay Manuel, Miss J., and Nigel Barker were fired.
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model premieres February 16. pic.twitter.com/mcGDMN5gsF
— Netflix (@netflix) February 13, 2026
He last saw her in 2017, five years after he left the show in 2012, when they were at BeautyCon. They had a “really nice conversation,” but added, “Other than that, we’ve had no communication of any sort, text, email, anything,” so that’s the end of that friendship.
Tyra has now revealed why he was later fired, along with Miss J and Nigel Barker, saying “bosses have bosses, and the big boss was very clear” that the “deal was up.” She said, “I cried myself to sleep that night. There are no sacred cows, I heard that meaning, ‘You too, Tyra.'”
“So it was time to tell Tyra that I wanted to leave the show,” he added, saying how they didn’t have a “traditional work relationship,” which made it difficult for him to open up to her about why he wanted to leave, adding that he “was afraid of saying the wrong thing”.
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After the third season of ANTM, they made a pact to “come to each other first” when they had something on their minds. “So I sent her the email, just expressing the utter gratitude for the opportunity, I was trying to move on in my own life and career,” he said.
He claimed she didn’t reply for three days, and told him, “‘I am disappointed,’” he recalled. He also claimed that after that email exchange with Tyra, all “communication just stopped,” adding that she wouldn’t speak to him when they first saw each other again.
However, she eventually put his arm around him and asked his opinion on the models auditioning to be on the show. “But it was just clear I was not allowed to speak to her outside of that,” he added. “It was like psychological torture. I felt broken.”
And even though they done 10 cycles together after that initial walk-out, it was tense. When asked on Reality Check if she would discuss what happened between her and Manuel, she said no. “I should call Jay. I don’t wanna do this here. But he’s a special man,” she said.
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