The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) issued a media alert over an August 14th Fox News segment discussing the inclusion of a transgender woman, Isis, on the reality show America's Next Top Model. Fox News issued an on-air apology over the segment after the group called it “offensive,” “crude” and “dehumanizing.”
During the segment, Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett bandies about with Us Weekly Editor-at-large Ian Drew about the twenty-two year old model hopeful.
The segment opens with Isis' description of herself as a woman whose “cards were dealt differently.” “Boy, that's an understatement,” Jarred jokes. “Definitely, an understatement,” Drew responds snidely.
After giving a few examples – Calpernia Addams on Transamerican Love Story and Laverne Cox on the current I Want To Work For Diddy – Drew refers to the inclusion of transgender people on reality television as “The Crying Game 2008.” Then goes on to insult the show itself, “I got to tell you, we call it America's Next Top Tranny a lot of the time anyway. A lot of these girls – you can't tell what they are. And so this just kind of blends in even more. She doesn't look any different from any other contestants who have been on there. I mean they're not exactly, like, the most high-class group of women usually.”
“This time yesterday we aired a segment about a transgender by the name of Isis, who will compete in the upcoming season of the television show America's Next Top Model,” Jarrett said in making the apology on August 15th. “The group GLAAD, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation sent us an email saying it was offensive. That was not our intention. We apologize.”