rivercityvibe   “Puerile, smutty, schoolboy nonsense” – My Mom

This is so huge I am going to post it immediately, in its entirety, without a picture. I say again, without a picture. We have received a communication from Babyann Hernandez’s Mom, Maggie Gottfried, which gives a very personal view of the America’s Next Top Model Audition fiasco, and advances the theory that “the reality is that the auditions were set up to fail from the start.”

On that BOMBSHELL, I give you Babyann’s mom:

I am Babyann Hernandez’ mom, and unfortunately, witness to the chaos. I have been a fan of Tyra Banks since I met her at an autograph signing at the Astor Place Kmart in 1996. She was an amazing, down to earth person, so even as the ordeal was taking place, I couldn’t help but believe she was better than that, and could not or would not stand for the outrage, therefore she would do everything in her power to make amends. But now that time continues to pass with little or no word from Tyra as to how she will repair the damage to her name and reputation, not to mention her loyal fans, one has to wonder.
They keep mentioning the BMW but the reality is the auditions were set up to fail from the start. There was no security, order, organization, the people on line were the ones telling newcomers where to go and where the lines “began and ended,” at around 3AM the crowd became too large to continue to handle itself, and the riot was unavoidable.
To watch my child have to endure the damage and abuse from the riot and then have her dream pulled out from under her, is an experience I could have lived without.
After waiting on line from 1:30AM, we waited for her to be done with “auditions” for over 2 hrs, hopeful of the outcome and happy that if nothing else she would have gotten the opportunity to experience a real audition. When she finally immersed from the crowds in the hotel, with tears in her eyes Babyann said, “ I feel like they mocked my dream, it wasn’t an audition it was a line-up” and then went on to explain her experience or lack thereof.
My heart broke for her. Since she was five all she could talk about was being a model. Unfortunately height was an issue for the kind of modeling she dreamed of, but she had desire, determination and not to mention a killer look, so she continued on her quest and we continue to support her. Then… her “big break”: Shorter models wanted, so we weren’t going to stop until she got an audition. No mountain too high, I told her, all you need is a door to open–how was I to know the door would be slammed in her face, leaving her bruised and confused. “How can my hero do this to me and all of those other great girls I met that day” Babyann said to me on our two hour drive home. What can I say to my daughter, all her life I taught her to be fair and polite, basically “treat others the way you want to be treated,” I told her. What could I say to her at a moment like that? The usual, “everything happens for a reason” just didn’t seem enough. But I told her not to give up, somewhere some way things would work out for the best, they always do. Having taught her to be optimistic, she agreed.
Our family has been cuddling up in the family room on Wednesday nights since the show started. Needless to say, this past Wednesday, none of us could bare even the thought of America’s Next Top Model. I can’t imagine we are the only ones that feel this way. Please let Tyra and CW know we won’t stand for the maltreatment of our loved ones.

So there we have it. Call Tyra’s people, her agent and her manager (“Managers are the ones who care” Entourage). There numbers are on the last post.