Photographer Reacts to PROBLEMATIC Americas Next Top Model ELEPHANT Photoshoot 

I’m from Cambodia and what I know is that yes, elephants had been used as a mode of transportation for thousands of years by Khmer, Thai and Lao royals. However they revered the elephants and treated them with respect. But nowadays, those poor creatures are being exploited and abused for tourism gains. And whats more enraging is that most people here seem to be unfazed by the fact.

A lot of animals are scared by camera flashes, so they have no idea how much danger they are putting the models in when they are getting the elephant spooked or agitated.

I went to Thailand and visited an elephant sanctuary and we NEVER got on top of them. We bathed them, gave them food, played with them and they NEVER reacted like that. They were peaceful because they were happy. It's so obvious that they are in distress. Ugh, hate this photoshoot. And I'm glad that you did a reaction to this because I didn't know they had this episode. Jessica, you are showing us the real ANTM and it's not cute, to say the least. And thanks for that.

Elephants are - and this is true - not a part of the dinosaur family.

Not an animal expert but I watched a short documentary once on elephants in Thailand about how violent the training process is, and how having people on their backs actually deform their spines because is not made for that. So yeah, really not a good shoot.

It’s crazy how we would watch this like it was nothing back in the day WOW

whenever a model says she is struggling with something, Tyra just immediately goes "oh I had a worse experience than you and still pulled through, so your experience is not as valid as mine, suck it up and move on"

I always noticed and never understood how one of the models could be killing it in the shoot but then the final photo they pick is the worst

Elephants shouldn’t be ridden, the extra weight deforms their spine and causes long term pain and damage. Also elephants are not going to let you ride them naturally, often in cases like these the elephants are taken from the wild as babies and have their spirit “broken” by repeated abuse and torture to make them compliant to their captors, any time you see an elephant in a circus, or tv show, it has almost certainly gone through this treatment(except in the very rare cases of one being raised in captivity and already docile around people and could have been trained through positive reinforcements, but again it’s rare) Also the body language of the elephants shows they’re clearly distressed, the trumpeting and the head swaying, it’s probably because they’re surrounded by people with flashing lights, shouting in their direction, with people climbing all over them, not to mention the people that break the elephants will likely be around them with big sharp sticks making sure they don’t play up too much. It’s heartbreaking and that’s why I urged people to NEVER endorse animal circuses or anything of that nature Edit: I wrote this before I saw the psa Jessica wrote, which is true!

It is not okay to use wild animal for a photoshoot!! Elephant is clearly in distress, it is painful to watch!! The hook they are using, is made for elephant to feel pain and obey commands...

I’m a student in Animal Science and this photo shoot is making me extremely uncomfortable. Although elephants have been used historically for transportation, the amount of people on these elephants is crazy. Also, the tool the handler is using is called a bullhook. These are typically used on sensitive portions of an elephants skin such as behind the ear to control the animal. It’s a very uncomfortable and painful especially when used on these sensitive areas. Furthermore, elephants are prey animals! flashing will spook them. Both the use of the bullhook and flash photography is inducing a stress response on these elephants. By Jay stating “after a few flashes she’ll get used to it,” is bullshit. As a prey animal, the stress response will only subside once the animal is away from the situation or deems the situation to be safe. Elephants are extremely affected by stress hormones secreted during the stress response. By being mounted and constantly dealing with flashes, I do not think the animal “will get used to it.” On a positive note, I really love your videos! I’m glad you are drawing attention to these issues in the media! 💜

Lol Tyra would claim to have every disease in the book if she could use it as an anecdote on why the girls shouldn't complain. Goddamn.

“Elephants are part of the dinosaur family” wtf! They are mammals. This is awful.

The girl had a bit of food poisoning and they somehow managed to translate that as her being 'high maintainance'? What?

The poor elephant is like “I get the impression you want me to lift you up, so could you just get up there already, I’m tired of lifting you with my leg.”

Its always been ironic to me that they called her high maintenance considering it was revealed they barely fed these girls . They barely gave them food and because of shooting hours they would rarely get sleep but then they'd wonder why the girls were sick?? She wasn't high maintenance she a human being who's body was clearly reacting to the poor conditions they were placed in. smh

Elephants are extremely smart and sensitive. If a poacher killed one of their own or mistreated them one year and comes back the next. The elephant will remember who you are and what you did. That saying of; "an elephant never forgets." Is actually true. So the elephant will get revenge on whoever mistreats them. I love elephants as much as I love foxes and I don't like the idea of ANTM using the animals as props.

You know why they didn't let them shave their legs before getting in the jungle for the shoot? Because this whole episode is actually just an ad for that razor. The shoot itself wasn't just "for an ad", the show is the real product and the real ad. "This razor is so great you can even use it in the jungle" is the message theyre trying to send and theyre just using their reality show where they bully young and vulnerable women as an excuse to advertise to probably similarly young and vulnerable women.

Poor elephants. I love them, they"re so gentle and sensitive. :(

Can we also discuss the cycle after this where they had the girls dress up like matadors and go in an arena with a live freakin bull?! And that animal was mad and so scared like the whole time.

we gotta love jessica for always addressing the _elephant_ in the room in these shoots

“The elephant reacts badly to the camera going off.” “The elephant gets upset by the flashes.” Okay so why tf did you put the elephant in an environment with the those things that you know make it upset? Like don’t do that then it’s that easy. And besides taking care of the elephant, every time the elephant got upset and reared back I was afraid of the girls falling off. This is safe for no one.

Not only were they stressing out the elephants and making them anxious, but they also put the models at risk. Btw: the hook thing is often used to cut the elephant and just be awful to them, people are so horrible to animals and it makes me so mad

I remember when I first saw this, I literally thought nothing of it, I even thought it was a really beautiful shoot... Didn't know about how horrible the treatment of elephants is in this business at the time :((((

I’m from southeast asia, elephant riding is definitely an abuse to the elephants.

This show is such a mess, I don't know how we couldn't see how problematic everything they did was 😂😂

Tyra always has to one up everyone else and make it sound like she had it it worse and she was fine so get over it. Someone else’s pain does not negate your own!

Elephants are my favorite animal and seeing how they are being treated in this enrages me. Seriously want to take that bull hook and go after those ppl.

18:22 Having stomach pain and tolerating it and having your body litterally give up due to dehydration (if I remember correctly) and having to be hospitalized are two totally different things Tyra, smh

They could have shoot somewhere else without using the elephant's

Tyra ALWAYS knows how to make everything about her reliving her model glory days. Danielle: ..And I had a little bit of food poisoning. Tyra: You know when I was a model... We get it but like, fml. And poor elephants. Completely unnecessary for the shoot.

This use to be my favorite photo shoot from ANTM growing up because I love elephants. Now I feel like crying, this is so horrible.

Chair not included, That elephant carried around 500lbs on his back 🤦‍♀️elephants are not vehicles or props, they are beautiful living creatures that want to live in peace, LET THEM LIVE IN PEACE!

Its a bull hook. It causes pain so they can control them

I know that the main problem is the mistreatment of so many living things. Buy can we also talk about how painfully obvious it is that this episode is sponsored by Venus?

Joanie had come straight from like 6 hours at the dentist, too. ANTM basically forced her and Danielle to choose to get their teeth fixed or not. Joanie chose to do it and Danielle chose not to do it. (Joanie is now a mom and a carpenter for HGTV shows. She’s my favorite contestant ever from the show!)

The elephants seem so stressed wth, this is definitely animal cruelty...

Crazy I mentioned this in the crocodile shoot!! I think the pictures and concept were really cool, but I felt for the elephants. It's very stressful for them and you can see how scared they were. I think I even saw a prod with a hook in the corner. Elephants are sadly very abused animals, and I have my doubts whether they were wellkept or not.

"does this mean the elephant is distressed?" Ad immediately after: stressed out??

This hurts my heart. Thank you for using your platform to inform people about how cruel riding elephants is. Same for having them paint stuff etc.

"she's too stiff" she's on top of a very nervous elephant!!

they are in fact, not apart of the dinosaur family LMFOA SJD

You are very considerate and kind for bringing up concerns about the photoshoot and then deciding to research it yourself and give us some info in the post-production of editing this video.

They steal the elephants from their mothers, and beat them, abuse them, starve them, and are just downright cruel to them. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about how these intelligent animals, that are extremely family oriented and matriarchal, are treated for dumb tourists to ride and pet.

If I didn't already know this episode is several years old I'd be able to tell just from the fact that they're riding the elephants. Now in 2020 in Thailand elephant sanctuaries are huge, they're places to go and get tip close with elephants without riding them, and they teach you all about how abusive this riding is. My heart hurts watching this

This is so wrong, but I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the acronym for World Animal Protection is WAP

Thank you so much for adding the PSA notes about elephants, I love your empathy and compassion. Just finding your channel, and from one photographer and retoucher Jessica to another, I love your content and am so happy to learn and find inspiration in your content 🙏🙂

7:19 the elephant definitely seemed distressed, but it's also possible that ANTM added the elephant trumpet sound effect post-filming.

The elephant is definitely in distress... The stick they’re holding is used for giving the animal directions, which isn’t inherintly bad if used gently. However the fact that the handelers are allowing this circus tells me they don’t care much for the animals’ wellbeing. Riding elephans is abuse in my book, simple as that. Also, elephants are absolutely not in the dinosaur family, if you want a real modern dinosaur go find a cassowary. Except those birds can kill an adult human with one kick, so, yknow. Maybe don’t 😅

I’m so glad Jessica showed those statistics and took time to educated herself and her audience. This is a really important issue.

Thank you for being a compassionate person. Your influence will help the majestic beings

This has been the most outrageous photoshoot so far. Thank you for raising awareness. People are so vain to just get a photo with an animal that is subjected to ultimate cruelty and neglect. It's just heartbreaking.

Those hooks have been used ( currently ) in circus to stab/ latch the elephant ears to guide them around. That why in zoo's in America or rescues you see elephant with shredded ears. You can see that this elephant ears have been mangled beyond reality 😥😢

i hope this video opens up to the idea for people to look into how problematic elephant riding is. we don't have to use animals and abuse them for likes/comments please. go and take up photoshop and learn how to photoshop yourselves onto elephants if you really need that ig photo please. i hope people become more aware and NOT contribute to this problematic industry. it hurts my heart, imagine how the elephants feel.

You’re so cute being so concerned about the elephant. I feel the same way. Especially when it comes to giraffes. They’re so beautiful and just AHHH, why do this to animals!

I'm terribly late to this video, but I just recently found your channel and have been binging for days. I just want to say, as a new sub, you are a beautiful soul. You have a huge sense of respect for all people and animals. I'm glad to have found your channel.

Not only was this awful for the elephant who didn't deserve that at all but also Danielle was in the ER for basically 3 problems the day before and she had to drag herself out of the hospital bed to be there. The models and the animals always got the last end of the straw. And I'm gonna continue to ask you to react to Asia's Next Top Model because I always enjoyed it way more than America's version. And there are so many cool photoshoots. When you compare the America's photoshoot with the zodiac signs to the Chinese Zodiac signs in Asia's Next Top Model, it is night and day, mah god.

Awww i feel bad for the elephant you can see how distressed it is this is basically abuse ANTM is so problematic

I think it's great that you raise awareness about animals and the elephants in this particular case. I truly respect your video, good job!

Thank you for taking the time to add the information you did on the cruelty towards elephants. I only just found your channel and already I'm proud to support your content.

I use a men’s razor too!!! They also work better along with being cheaper!

Just wondering how this show was so problematic and no one said anything before 2019

I hate the fact that we all watched this stuff as children and just thought everything is completely fine. Especially the the girls just have to do whatever the people say.

“The elephant is like screaming. They kept the chain on the elephant too?! You’re not trying to hide it at all... that you’re doing this to the elephant... okay.” 😂

I kept waiting for the elephant to run off into the jungle with one of them

I've been to Thailand twice and spent some time with the elephants. The elephant handlers use a stick with a hook on its end to control the elephant. It's definitely animal cruelty. Also, I have seen some handlers using it to hit the elephants on the head. Once my trip partner and I saw a handler hitting the elephant so harshly and yelled at him to stop. I nearly cried. The poor elephant! The elephants used in this video are being abused for this photoshoot. Add it to the long list of problematic ANTM photoshoots. The chair on the elephant's back is very heavy, causes bruising and skin irritation, and might also cause spine deformations after many years of carrying tourists. There are places where you can ride the elephants bareback if you really want to experience elephant riding, which is not great either, but more humane and reasonable. The terrain of Thai forests is sometimes steep, muddy, and slippery, which is why they would use an elephant to get to the shooting site. The elephants are very smart and stable so they'd be an alternative for anyone who doesn't wanna sink into the knee-high slippery mud. The leg trick is something the handlers teach the elephants, that allows them to easily climb on the elephant's neck. It's not necessarily harmful to the elephant's foot. I spent time with rescued elephants, learned about their health, food, hygiene, and even got to play with adorable baby elephants. The babies are very playful. Elephants are intelligent, smart, and beautiful animals that are unfortunately being abused very badly all over Thailand and sometimes spend all their lives tied, beaten, starved, and exploited in animal shows. It's slowly changing, but it will take some time until Thailand completely outlaws elephant abuse (as well as other types of common animal abuse for the sake of the tourism industry: monkeys, tigers, oxen, and snakes). I hope I answered some of your questions.

I hit your like button before I watch your videos! That's how confident I am of your amazing videos!! 💖

Yeah that show was wild! Glad people like you are opening our eyes to what the show was really about

The should've used nature it self without animals. I saw this in a magazine I would be looking at the elephant not the model or what the ad is for. Posing around trees would've been way better and catchy for the ad

clearly the elephants are in distress with the whole thing going on :((((( as far as i know, elephants used for rides and stuff undergo a cruel process or smthn so they will obey the keeper :< i did a quick search and in 2019 most elephant camps stopped doing the rides and kept it to only feeding or bathing with them

I love elephants, they're my favorite. I used to want to ride one as a kid, of course I was a kid, I didn't know any better. Bless the internet for being able to spread the word and research these things. Now I'd love to go to a sanctuary or safari to see them in the wild.

So glad you highlighted the plight of these beautiful majestic beings

Jessica: I don't wanna be like "oh the elephant" every two seconds... Me every two seconds: OMG THAT POOR CREATURE! 😞 So, yes, I get your feelings Jessica... It was hard for me too... 😞

Back at it again with the animal exploitation. They love it on that show.

I'm so glad you brought awareness to what is going on with the elephants

Loved your commentary on this one, you made so many good points

Thank you! A lot of people don't care about hurting animals specially in this industry

Jade is kind of the most iconic girl this show had not gonna lie. I'm glad Danielle won the season though, shes great too.

Oh my god you need to react to more episodes of America’s next top model these videos are so good.

i literally almost cried i’m sensitive to this kind of stuff ! this is hurting me

I love that you're pointing out the animal exploitation part of these shows!

I‘m so glad that you call it what it is: animal exploitation. It was absolutely awful to watch 😥

Rewatching these is such a throwback btw your absolutely gorgeous

Rewatching these with you is so crazy! That elephant is so upset!

That scene was really hard to watch. The fact that nobody in the show even cared about the hook or the chain, and animal abuse in this video is heartbreaking. It's cool that you posted your reaction and get people talking about it.

Imagine what the poor elephant must've gone through

i tried watching your vids while sick and i would end up coughing uncontrollably because im laughing so hard at your commentary / shade.

a video for quarantine selfies or photography portraits at home? love all your work!

I'm always so excited for your videos, Jessica! They definitely make my days in quarantine a lot easier. I especially love these ANTM series, your commentary is great and it shows how problematic the show is, I can't believe I used to watch it on TV all the time when I was younger. Also your makeup is amazing, that blue metalic eyeshadow/ eyeliner! Hope you have a great day, all the love! xx

i love your little micro sarcastic remarks "i burned my face 1 time", rip Tyrannosaurus Banks

After you made the suggestions i immediately liked subscribed, and pushed post notifications

Jessica slaying with thattt silver linerr yass ✨

I love to see you being so emotionally involved in what the elephant is going through! I'd really love to recommend a very eye-opening documentary to you, it's called 'Dominion' and it's free to watch online. It's about how we treat different species in general. Would love to hear your thoughts on that, love your content! Greetings from Germany xx

I HATE WHEN PEOPLE USE ANIMALS HDKSSHJSJD NO

Anytime animals are involved, I get nervous. Love your AMTM videos by the way. Makes my day! 😆

Okay so first - I love your channel. I’m about as opposite from a fashion model as possible lol I’ve never been all that into clothes or makeup or anything but I LOVED ANTM back when it started. Now? I love your channel. I can’t say enough how much I appreciate the support you show for the models - how you call out the toxic and nasty behaviors of the judges. I just love this and it makes me hopeful for the world my two daughters are growing up in - they’re little still and the discussion around how we treat people has come so so far - I mean, this show was on for a LONG time with girls being mistreated. Second, the elephants..oh god it’s heartbreaking. They’ve been used for centuries and usually treated like family...but now? Those videos you see of them painting or playing an instrument or carrying tourists around? Those poor creatures are being abused so so much.

i have to add i really appreciate your genuine concern for the animals in these videos. you're a good person, jessica. x

You can tell immediately after he said how they were gonna be getting to the middle of the jungle, that some of the models knew how unethical this was.

I already liked this channel but after watching this i love it even more

Thank you for putting awareness in this video. Poor elephant 🐘.