America's Next Top Riot?
March 16 2009, Published 12:00 p.m. ET
Three people were arrested, six injured and two hospitalized after a Manhattan casting call for America's Next Top Model turned into a melee, according to the New York Daily News.
"The girls were running like it was 9/11 part two," witness Jennifer Brown told the paper. "I feared for my life."
Saturday's casting call was intended for women 5-feet-7 and under, according to the report. A disorganized, cluttered line caused escalating tension, as one witness told the paper she had to urinate in a cup and change on the street so as not to lose her place in the line. Another woman said she could barely breathe in the compressed crowd.
A black BMW bellowing plumes of smoke caused panic among the would-be contestants who scrambled away in fear, knocking down a barricade and falling in the hysteria.
The show's host-producer, supermodel Tyra Banks, who hosts America's Next Top Model, said she was not sure what caused the melee.
"We are concerned by the events that occurred Saturday afternoon in the vicinity of the New York City casting call for the next cycle of America's Next Top Model," Banks said in a joint statement with the show's executive producer, Ken Mok. "At this time, we still don't know all the details of what happened or what triggered the incident. We appreciate the efforts of the NYPD and will assist them in any way possible in this matter."
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