Tyra Banks

CTL-E-6147 · Person · businessperson · 1973–present

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07362 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6147.

Tyra Banks, born Tyra Lynne Banks on 4 December 1973 in Inglewood, California, is an American model, television host, producer and businessperson. She began modeling at fifteen, signed with Elite Model Management in 1990 and walked twenty-five shows in her first Paris season. In February 1996 she became the first African American woman featured on the cover of GQ, and she also appeared on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover and the Victoria's Secret catalog, becoming one of the original Victoria's Secret Angels in 1997. She founded her production company, Bankable Productions, and in 2003 created America's Next Top Model, which she hosted in 2003–15 and again in 2017–18 across the series' twenty-four cycles. Her daytime series The Tyra Banks Show ran from 2005 to 2010 and won Emmy Awards in 2008 and 2009. She later hosted America's Got Talent in 2017–18 and Dancing with the Stars in 2020–22, and she is the founder of the ice-cream brand SMiZE & DREAM, which she now operates from Sydney, Australia.

The record

• Also known as: Tyra Lynne Banks, BanX

Notes

Staged 2026-10-16 under CTL-GOV-006 (Census Intake Wave 6 — 747 Program, Wave 12; 27-record packet). Gate A (2026-10-16): no Tyra Banks entity in the live graph at 3,843 entities (exact / normalized / alias + token containment); ID CTL-E-6147 assigned at assembly. Supply: 747 Supply Ledger, Tier 3 — Famous Birthdays ABSENT census, readiness rank 1893 (TV Show Hosts list). The census supplied the NAME ONLY; no fact in this record is sourced to it (CTL-GOV-004). SCOPE GATE: PASS — African American model, television producer and businessperson from Inglewood, California; the first African American woman featured on the covers of GQ, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and the Victoria's Secret catalog (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Vital status: LIVING — appeared as a guest co-host on Today with Jenna & Friends on 14 Apr 2025 (TV Insider) and sat for the Netflix documentary Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, released in February 2026 (Westmeath Examiner, 5 Feb 2026). STATISTICS (sourced, dated): America's Next Top Model ran for 24 seasons, 2003–2018 (Primetimer, Feb 2026); The Tyra Banks Show won Emmy Awards in 2008 and 2009 for outstanding informative talk show (Britannica); walked 25 shows in her first Paris season (Britannica); SMiZE & DREAM ice-cream brand launched in 2020 (Westmeath Examiner). MEDIA: photo HELD (candidate: Wikimedia Commons photograph of Tyra Banks in 2018; no file page read at file-page level in this pass, so no image is cleared — CTL-PHOTO-001; a CTL-created graphic is the standing alternative); chart FILLED (charts/chart-ctl-e-6147-tyra-banks.svg); video HELD (Shorts Link Map checked by name and variants — no matching-entity CTL Short); audio HELD (no rights basis). MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Person records carry no map slot under the media-layer rule; maps attach to places and institutions.) | visual_assets = HELD: | chart = FILLED (CTL-created SVG (black / deep red / gold) built only from this record's sourced facts) | video = HELD (No matching-entity CTL Short in the Shorts Link Map catalog (checked by name and variants), and no official/em) | audio = HELD (No CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio at staging.)

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Tyra Banks' (updated 26 Sep 2026) — Tyra Banks, born 4 December 1973 in Inglewood, California; began modeling at 15, signed with Elite Model Management in 1990 and walked a record 25 shows in her first Paris season; first African American woman on the covers of GQ (February 1996), the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and the Victoria's Secret catalog; an original Victoria's Secret Angel from 1997; founded Bankable Productions; hosted America's Next Top Model (2003–15, 2017–18) and The Tyra Banks Show (2005–10), which won Emmy Awards in 2008 and 2009; hosted America's Got Talent (2017–18) and Dancing with the Stars (2020–22) — https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tyra-Banks (primary source · build store)
• Westmeath Examiner (PA reporting), 'A look back at Tyra Banks' career ahead of Netflix's Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model' (5 Feb 2026) — Banks created and produced America's Next Top Model in 2003; The Tyra Banks Show aired 2005–2010 and earned two Daytime Emmy Awards; she founded the ice-cream brand SMiZE & DREAM, launched in 2020 with pop-ups including Sydney, and introduced its “hot ice cream” product in 2025; she returned to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2024 — https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2026/02/05/a-look-back-at-tyra-banks-career-ahead-of-netflixs-reality-check-inside-americas-next-top-model/ (build store)
• Primetimer, 'What is Tyra Banks doing now? Inside supermodel's life following ANTM doc sit down' (Feb 2026) — Banks, born 4 December 1973 in Inglewood, created and hosted America's Next Top Model, which ran until 2018 for 24 seasons; she founded her ice-cream brand SMiZE & DREAM and returned to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on 15 October 2024 — https://www.primetimer.com/news/what-is-tyra-banks-doing-now-inside-supermodel-s-life-following-antm-doc-sit-down (build store)
• TV Insider, 'Tyra Banks Explains Why She Quit US for Australia After DWTS Exit' (Apr 2025) — Banks appeared as a guest co-host on Today with Jenna & Friends on 14 April 2025 and explained that she and her family moved to Sydney, Australia, where much of her SMiZE & DREAM ice cream is made — https://www.tvinsider.com/1186512/tyra-banks-australia-dwts-smize-victorias-secret/ (build store)
• Black America Web, 'Little Known Black History Fact: Tyra Banks' (5 Dec 2019) — Inglewood, California native Tyra Banks, born 4 December 1973, was the first African-American model to grace the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition — https://blackamericaweb.com/2019/12/05/little-known-black-history-fact-tyra-banks/ (build store)

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Record CTL-E-6147 · Combined Graph record U-07362 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 5 sources.
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