*Tyra Banks has come of out modeling retirement to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2019 issue.
Banks previously appeared on the SI Swimsuit cover in 1996 alongside Valeria Mazza. She made history the following year, when she became the first Black woman to receive her own cover.
Tyra is one of three stars sharing the cover honor, along with model and dancer Camille Kostek and World Cup champion soccer player Alex Morgan, The HuffPost reports.
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Her first-ever cover of the mag was a shared honor with Valeria Mazza in 1996. pic.twitter.com/hv1gaTWW4C
— Michael Blackmon (@blackmon) May 8, 2019
MJ Day, SI’s editor, explained the decision to put Banks on the cover again, saying “Since Tyra’s first cover in 1996, she’s transformed herself into nothing less than a mogul, a cultural force and a supernova of inspiration and empowerment. She’s kind of the Swimsuit Issue ethos come to life, everything we know this franchise can be.”
Banks, meanwhile, noted in an Instagram video posted by the magazine that she “never thought it would be possible to be 45 years old and on the cover of this magazine again.”
In a tweet sharing the news, the “America’s Next Top Model” host said: “This is for everybody that has been told that they are not good enough because of their body, their age, their everything.”
This is for everybody that has been told that they are not good enough because of their body, their age, their everything. #BanX is here to tell you that you ARE friggin’ fierce no matter what anybody says!
Drop mic now!@SI_Swimsuit 2019 pic.twitter.com/bgUqGunhAe— Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) May 8, 2019
In an interview with the New York Times, Banks discussed her historic SI cover, calling it “explosive.”
“It changed my life overnight. You have to think back to remember what that did for an appreciation of black beauty to have a black girl, a girl next door type, on the cover of one of the most mass mainstream magazines of our lives. It was a societal statement, a political statement and an economic one.”
She also addressed her decision to retire from modeling 13 years ago.
“I didn’t want to age out. I walked out with a three-year contract on the table, but I wanted to say goodbye before the industry said goodbye to me.”
Sports Illustrated’s 2019 swimsuit issue is on sale now.
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