Tyra Banks accepts the Luminary Spotlight at Essence's 18th Annual Black Women in Hollywood Awards, acknowledging some of the more problematic aspects of her America's Next Top Model, but arguing that she and the show should be remembered more for its groundbreaking strides in representation.

Tyra Banks discussed how 'America's Next Top Model' didn't always 'get it right' at a speech made during Essence's Black Women in Hollywood awards.

"We fought to bring diversity to that television show at a time when it didn’t exist, a time when people in the fashion industry were telling me, 'Oh, you putting girls from the hood on your show?' " Banks said.

Tyra Banks has addressed the longstanding criticism of 'America's Next Top Model', acknowledging that the show did not always get it right.

Tyra Banks has recently broken silence on America’s Next Top Model criticism.After receiving Luminary Spotlight award at the Essence‘s 18th annual Black Women in Hollywood Awards,

Tyra Banks is aware of the criticism surrounding her long-running reality show America’s Next Top Model, but she refuses to tarnish its legacy. While accepting the first-ever Luminary Spotlight honor at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards on Thursday,

Tyra Banks is ready to return to modeling as she reflects on 'America's Next Top Model's empowering and problematic legacy.

Tyra Banks didn't always "get it right" on "America's Next Top Model," she told attendees at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards, adding: "I said some dumb s–t." Banks was the event's first Luminary Spotlight honoree on Feb.

I refuse to have my legacy be about some stuff linked together on the Internet when there were 24 cycles of changing the world,” Banks said at a Feb. 27 awards show