Tyra Banks Releases Statement About Paulina Porizkova
May 19th, 2009
Tyra Banks and America’s Next Top Model executive producer Ken Mok have released a statement regarding Paulina Porizkova’s exit from the hit show, after claiming she was cut because of a “huge ego” and that ANTM needed to “cut some fat”.
In a recent interview, Porizkova explained, “The reason I was told I was fired was because, it seemed that America’s Next Top Model has gotten too fat and they needed to cut some fat and the fat was me.”
She added, “So I figured it was either that or my gigantic huge ego. Which I wasn’t aware of until I was told by the producers that I have an ego problem.”
However, Banks released the following statement on Monday (May 16) explaining Porizkova’s departure:
“The current state of the economy has forced shows to make major budget cuts industry wide.
America’s Next Top Model is not immune to these financially challenging times. We’ve had to make significant cuts in every area of the production and, unfortunately, Paulina was a casualty of these cuts.
Tyra, who pursued Paulina to join the show as a judge multiple times, was incredibly saddened by the decision the show was forced to make.
We really enjoyed working with Paulina, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
