Trending:
- Yaya DaCosta says she’s closing the chapter on America’s Next Top Model after running into Tyra Banks in March
- The Chicago Med alum previously revealed she had a “beautiful moment” with the supermodel while at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards
- DaCosta says she won’t be talking about the show anymore
Twenty-one years after appearing on America’s Next Top Model, Yaya DaCosta says she’s made peace with her experiences on the show — the good, the bad and any of the negativity that followed.
For years, the New York native — who was runner-up on cycle 3 of the hit show — chose not to speak about her experiences on the modeling competition. However, on March 15, she surprised fans when she finally broke her silence in an Instagram video and revealed she had a beautiful moment with Tyra Banks when the two women attended the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards on Feb. 27.
While the video was aimed at addressing some questions fans had for years, it also brought unnecessary commentary from naysayers, a side-effect DaCosta says is inconsequential to her bigger mission. For her, speaking out was about finally putting a painful chapter in her life to rest.
“Honestly, and many may not understand this as I have caught wind of — in the rare occasion that I read comments that speculate about my intentions — I really would’ve been fine never saying anything,” she explains to PEOPLE exclusively.
Over time, people have assumed that DaCosta’s silence meant she had ill feelings towards Banks. However, while her time on ANTM wasn’t exactly filled with joyous memories, staying silent was also a way to launch and preserve a respectable acting career, detached from the assumptions that come with having done reality TV.
“[Top Model] was before reality TV was really a thing, and no one knew what they were getting themselves into. And so at that time, there was a stigma and because I was so dedicated to being taken seriously as a legitimate thespian, right, as an actor, it was something that I needed to not talk about,” she reveals.
“I actually had the directors of three of my first films tell me explicitly — John Sayles of Honeydripper, Liz Friedlander of Take the Lead, and Roc Dutton from Racing for Time — that had they known, because they found out afterward, or while we were on set or at a wrap party, that they wouldn’t have hired me,” she reveals. “So I learned very quickly to zip the lip.”
But, decades later, with an impressive resumé that boasts films and TV shows such as Lincoln Lawyer, Chicago Med, and a Whitney Houston biopic, DaCosta says she’s very “comfortable” and has “made peace with my past,” which allowed her to finally speak out.
In the March 15 video, DaCosta revealed that she ran into Banks at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards after the supermodel had made her speech acknowledging she said “some dumb s—,” during its run.
The Whitney star said she had attended the awards ceremony, but had been absent when Banks gave her speech as she had gone to the bathroom. However, she ran into the ANTM host at the photo studio — where the pair proceeded to have a sentimental and healing moment.
Had the run-in happened years earlier, DaCosta admitted it may not have been as profound a moment as it turned out to be. However, in this era of her life, she’s learning to listen and be obedient to spiritual nudges she believes are divinely orchestrated. And the reconciliation with Banks was one.
“No one knew she was going to speak. She happened to speak when I was in the bathroom. And because of that, we ended up being in the same place at the same time. That would not have happened had I not been obedient,” she tells PEOPLE.
“And once our meeting happened, it was such a beautiful experience, I went back in the room, I shared it, like I said in the video, with friends who were there and I was also nudged just to understand that the same gift that I gave them and telling the story needed to be given to the masses who were still holding on to old stories. And so that was my only intention, was to be obedient and follow the nudges,” she explains.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Now that she’s said her piece, DaCosta says she’s officially closing the chapter on America’s Next Top Model.
“I’m not going to talk about it anymore,” she affirms. “The lesson is clear. I said what I said, and I’m so glad that so many people resonated with it and that we can begin to shift the conversation about these things towards the intention of growth, of healing, of elevation.”
Aware that people are still going to find a reason to pick her and her the sentiments she’s shared apart, DaCosta says she’s fine with that too.
“Not everybody is ready, and that’s okay. And that was my point, right? We’re not always going to get the apology that we want, but we can put ourselves first and we can decide to be whole and to not need anything from anyone in order to move on and to be free. So that was it, and it wasn’t something that I planned. It was just literally me being obedient.”
Read the full article here
