Janice Dickinson on falling out with Tyra Banks, stealing Trump’s limo, & Madonna’s latest look
Janice Dickinson has seen and done it all and is spilling the tea to Queerty.
The self-proclaimed "world's first supermodel” served face on all the major fashion magazines, sashayed down the fiercest runways, and proved to be a force to be reckoned with on "America’s Next Top Model."
Now 20 years after the premiere on ANTM, Dickinson is launching a music career with her new single “Get Into It” and is readying for her gay dance diva era. She’s also doing amazing charity work helping feed the underserved with Caterina’s Club Mission.
But first she’s keeping it real and sharing how she really feels about Tyra Banks, Donald Trump, Madonna, and more.
On being the “world’s first supermodel’:
“I stand by it because I coined the word. You know, there are of course other supermodels that were before me, but I said to my agent back in 1982, with the Elite agency. She said, ‘You are working night and day, day and night, who do you think you are? Superman.’ And I said ‘no honey, I'm supermodel. And you'll refer to me as supermodel’. So we started a supermodel division that only took girls that did catalog, runway, editorial, advertising, and spokesperson.”
On her contentious relationship with Tyra Banks on "America’s Next Top Model":
“Things that I've written in my book [No Lifeguard on Duty], she just basically took it out word for word. ‘Smize with your eyes’ and you know, things like that.”
“After a couple of years, I went up to Tyra politely and asked her for parity as a writer. If you want to use what I've written, which you have, I've got a lot more ideas. I can become a producer as well as work on the panel for some of the shoots, which would be doable. And she turned her back on me for that. And then I got fired the next season.”
“I wish her well. She's a smart lady. She's done a lot for kids. You know, she's done a lot of harm for kids. She did a lot of good things for kids.”
“The criticisms could cut deep, right? Like, she didn't cut it. She didn't come in and see the nerves after she made the criticizing remarks. So the girls are all shattered from the day of like, ‘oh my god, I'm never gonna make it. And so if I keep walking the way I'm walking,’ or you name it, and I heard it in my ear on the microphone. I was asked to be the Simon Cowell on that show and I did it. I was like the negative version of Miss sweet Susie cakes, Tyra Banks.”
“I was in the modeling world a lot longer than she was and I did a lot more important jobs like working with Horst, Terrell, Avedon, Penn, Scavullo, all these guys way before she did. …And you know, I'd sit next to her. You know, when there was an inconvenient moment, I'd say ‘shut up, girl. I did Vogue. You did Elle.’”
On stealing Donald Trump’s limo in the ‘80s to go on date with JFK Jr:
“I once stole Trump's limousine without knowing it was his limousine? It was a snowstorm up in New York, a Nor'easter they call it. There were no taxi cabs anywhere. I was sitting there in the cold for a couple hours trying to get a taxi and there were none available. And so I just said, ‘come on just get in this limo. I'll just drive it a few blocks.’ So my girlfriend got in the back.
“I drove it a few blocks down the street, swerving, you know, making fishtails in the street and there was no one no one on the road. It was a real storm. So I remember this clearly because I was going there to meet John F. Kennedy Jr. for dinner. And I didn't want to miss that date, honey. Yes, he was divine. Yes, I did kiss him.”
On why she won’t ever do "Dancing with the Stars":
“Listen, I would break my ankles. I know I would. First of all, I can't wear heels as much as I could back in the day, so it'd be harder for me to find a pair of shoes that wouldn't kill my corns. Sorry, guys.”
On Madonna:
“She just keeps transforming herself. Pushing for new horizons being a director, being a photographer, being an author, being a singer, being a dancer.”
“I have met her and I photographed her. She's gorgeous. I don't know what's going on with her look these days. She looks completely different. But to each his own. I will always support her.”
Edited by Terence Key.
The self-proclaimed "world's first supermodel” served face on all the major fashion magazines, sashayed down the fiercest runways, and proved to be a force to be reckoned with on "America’s Next Top Model."
Now 20 years after the premiere on ANTM, Dickinson is launching a music career with her new single “Get Into It” and is readying for her gay dance diva era. She’s also doing amazing charity work helping feed the underserved with Caterina’s Club Mission.
But first she’s keeping it real and sharing how she really feels about Tyra Banks, Donald Trump, Madonna, and more.
On being the “world’s first supermodel’:
“I stand by it because I coined the word. You know, there are of course other supermodels that were before me, but I said to my agent back in 1982, with the Elite agency. She said, ‘You are working night and day, day and night, who do you think you are? Superman.’ And I said ‘no honey, I'm supermodel. And you'll refer to me as supermodel’. So we started a supermodel division that only took girls that did catalog, runway, editorial, advertising, and spokesperson.”
On her contentious relationship with Tyra Banks on "America’s Next Top Model":
“Things that I've written in my book [No Lifeguard on Duty], she just basically took it out word for word. ‘Smize with your eyes’ and you know, things like that.”
“After a couple of years, I went up to Tyra politely and asked her for parity as a writer. If you want to use what I've written, which you have, I've got a lot more ideas. I can become a producer as well as work on the panel for some of the shoots, which would be doable. And she turned her back on me for that. And then I got fired the next season.”
“I wish her well. She's a smart lady. She's done a lot for kids. You know, she's done a lot of harm for kids. She did a lot of good things for kids.”
“The criticisms could cut deep, right? Like, she didn't cut it. She didn't come in and see the nerves after she made the criticizing remarks. So the girls are all shattered from the day of like, ‘oh my god, I'm never gonna make it. And so if I keep walking the way I'm walking,’ or you name it, and I heard it in my ear on the microphone. I was asked to be the Simon Cowell on that show and I did it. I was like the negative version of Miss sweet Susie cakes, Tyra Banks.”
“I was in the modeling world a lot longer than she was and I did a lot more important jobs like working with Horst, Terrell, Avedon, Penn, Scavullo, all these guys way before she did. …And you know, I'd sit next to her. You know, when there was an inconvenient moment, I'd say ‘shut up, girl. I did Vogue. You did Elle.’”
On stealing Donald Trump’s limo in the ‘80s to go on date with JFK Jr:
“I once stole Trump's limousine without knowing it was his limousine? It was a snowstorm up in New York, a Nor'easter they call it. There were no taxi cabs anywhere. I was sitting there in the cold for a couple hours trying to get a taxi and there were none available. And so I just said, ‘come on just get in this limo. I'll just drive it a few blocks.’ So my girlfriend got in the back.
“I drove it a few blocks down the street, swerving, you know, making fishtails in the street and there was no one no one on the road. It was a real storm. So I remember this clearly because I was going there to meet John F. Kennedy Jr. for dinner. And I didn't want to miss that date, honey. Yes, he was divine. Yes, I did kiss him.”
On why she won’t ever do "Dancing with the Stars":
“Listen, I would break my ankles. I know I would. First of all, I can't wear heels as much as I could back in the day, so it'd be harder for me to find a pair of shoes that wouldn't kill my corns. Sorry, guys.”
On Madonna:
“She just keeps transforming herself. Pushing for new horizons being a director, being a photographer, being an author, being a singer, being a dancer.”
“I have met her and I photographed her. She's gorgeous. I don't know what's going on with her look these days. She looks completely different. But to each his own. I will always support her.”
Edited by Terence Key.
