Tyra Banks has addressed her on-screen clash with Law Roach during the latest season of Project Runway, dismissing suggestions that the pair are involved in an ongoing feud.
Banks, 52, appeared as a recurring guest judge on the 22nd season of the Freeform fashion series, which aired over the summer. Tensions surfaced in the fifth episode when she and Roach disagreed over the judging.
“That’s not the challenge,” Banks told Roach during the exchange.
“But you’re overstepping,” he replied, prompting Banks to respond: “No, you’re overstepping… and you’re talking over everybody.”
When judging resumed in the following episode, Roach said: “As much as I hate to, I agree with Tyra.” Banks did not appear again on the programme.
Asked about the incident in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Banks laughed off the idea that there was lasting tension between them.
“That is so crazy,” she said, adding that the moment had become a bigger issue for viewers than it was for the judges.
Asked where she stood with Roach, Banks said: “I don’t know if I should just let the lore live? Just enjoy the Banks-Law, Law-Banks [narrative]. I’m so confused. I’m like, what? We’re beefing? Okay, we’re beefing. It’s just weird for me.”
She also addressed speculation over her departure from the series after five episodes, saying: “They’re like, ‘Oh, she did five episodes and then she left? She’s supposed to do 10!’ [But] y’all don’t know what my contract stated. But, you know, what? Continue to enjoy!”
Banks added that “people start making things [into something] and it becomes the truth, and sometimes you say, ‘Whatever.’”
Earlier this year, she filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix over a documentary series about America’s Next Top Model, in which she took part.
