Chaos Breaks Out at ANTM New York Casting Call
March 14, 2009 by Erin Balser
The New York casting calls for Cycle 13 of America’s Next Top Model were cancelled today, as chaos broke out. Three people were arrested and six others were hurt as the line for auditions broke down outside the Park Central New York Hotel.
Thousands of ANTM hopefuls had come out that day, with many girls camping overnight in hopes of trying out early. Shirley was one of the many people who were there early and she was kind enough to send me a photo of the long, dense line.
The line at the NYC ANTM casting call | Image by Shirley
Here’s a video of the casting call. It shows the crowd panicking and breaking up.
Two of those injured were taken to the hospital and the four others declined further treatment after being taken care of by the fire department. Several people who were auditioning were trampled on, according to 1010wins.
“People were pushing, screaming, yelling at each other,” Lauren Musacchio said to the New York Times. “It was chaos.”
According to 1010wins, there was just an “enthusiastic” crowd that was aggressive, but manageable until someone yelled “fire!” That resulted in the stampede that lead to the trampling.
“Everyone got thrown everywhere,” Annina Manttari told the New York Times. “People were getting run over.”
There have been no details released by the New York Fire Department or the New York Police Department. I’ll keep you updated as more news is released.
it was complete chaos, very disorganized. I slept overnight and stilll didnt get in. no one knew where the line began leaving the early birds to go last and the late arrivals to go first. no fair…no fair no fair
wooowww
its seems that drama begans to early in this cycle 13
wow haha
I think there was a fire. A car came rolling down the street spewing a massive white cloud of smoke. I couldn’t see the fire because I was squashed on line, but the smoke was everywhere. The people next to it were running away from it. Before that had happened though, I thought to myself that the police should really close down the street. It was unsafe.
In my opinion, the officers on duty were ill prepared to be on crowd control. They lacked the basic knowledge on how to handle line spacing and I think it’s partially to blame for this situation. Also in my layman’s opinion, I think that the producers of this event were criminally negligent in their almost complete lack of organization for entering the building. It was quite obvious from very early on that thousands of contestants would be there that morning. It was absolutely chaotic and the only reason it was working up until that point is because the mob of people was friendly and patiently awaiting to get in. Trampling was one everyone’s mind and it was a worry that kept us all alert and careful. Most of us were just there because we loved the show and it was a fun thing to do.
Myself, a huge fan from the beginning, will never watch this show again because of the utter incompetence shown by the staff present that day.
I’m just grateful that the two girls I saw fall down in the crowd were picked up before too many people had stepped on them. We had tried to form a barricade around them, and they were okay.
this cycle is a must-watch!
I was there too – thanks for the info!! All the media reports have been light of details. I guess no one really knows what caused the chaos.
I went there to see how bad the lones were, I wanted to try out but after seeing all those people I knew something would eventually happened. With that many girls in one area something is bound to happen. Theres always someone who thinks there better than everyone and starts crap with other girls, and over exagerates the “car problem.” Everyone should have known they wouldnt be able to leave the line, and figured out ways to deal with it. This sitaution actually really pisses me off because like I said someone exagerated the car problem and created a riot for NO REASON! I am sure there were a lot of girls there who had no problem waiting in line, but becasue someone opened their mouth they created the auditions to be cancelled!!! Theres a lot of girls under 5′7″ that want to be models, everyone should understand that and respect eachother, everyone was there for the same reason… and now a lot girls dream were shot down. I dont think the directors and producers expected this many people, usually the auditions turn out is not this much. But the only other thing I have to say is “thanks to chic that started all this shit” You ruined lots of girls dreams and their chance to be on Top Model.
NYC Auditions was just a mess. First of all there are ALOT of upset girls who feel they just wasted their time. Do you know how many girls where taller than 5′7 that were chosen. In an article I read Tyra said that this competition was strictly for girls 5′7 and UNDER, well it cleary was NOT the case. I know it said that producers can use their discrestion, but then why pick MOSTLY taller girls when its a short cycle. The lady choosing the girls, didnt even look at the girls and was even eating a sandwhich while picking girls,which to me was so unprofessional and alot of girls complained about it. If they don’t take it seriously, then how do they expect us to. This competition was ment to be considered for all shapes and sizes, but everyone we saw had stick thin legs. The girl sitting behind me, was absolutely stunning, and everyone thought she would get in, but once again..the producer didnt even glance at her or pick her head up from her whatever she was doing. On behalf of the girls who were there for the SHORT cycle, we are outraged at these auditions. NOT FAIR…..NOT AT ALL!
You say that most of you were there because “it was a fun thing to do” did you think about the people who really has the PASSION to a top model. Yeah so maybe the producers didnt oranize that well, they didnt expect that many people, you cant blame them for the chaos. You should be blaming all other people who exagerated the car problem. there were many girls who camped out over night and prepared themselves to be waiting along time. The girls who went “just to go” shouldnt have been there. Just becasue this happened you say your not gonna watch the show again… I think your blaming the wrong people for this and should look at what really happened.
I think producers should be prepared for anything, cuz anything can happen. They’ve been in this business for a long time so they should be prepared. Whether there were 10 girls or 10 000 girls, they should’ve had better organisation. I don’t blame anyone for saying they won’t watch the show, cuz it does leave a bad taste in your mouth.
The producers may have seem unprofessional but you have to understand they have certain criteria to follow, on what kind of girls to pick. Yes it strictly was for girls under 5′7″ but they can choose whoever the hell they want too!! They main reason why they chose to have a show for shorter gilrs is becasue all the shorter girls complained to directors/prodeucers at other auditions to give them a chance too!! So look what happens, they give us shorter girls the chance and a fellow girl(s) ruined it for everyone by freaking out about the car that broke down. everyone is worried about their egos and not thinking that everyone is there for the same reason, maybe if all the girls were considerate of everyone else this may have not happened. But theres always at leats “one” in the crowd. Think about what Tyra thinks about this… she is probably ashamed, mostly at the out of control girls.
Let me just say that Tyra wanted to have a short cycle,cuz she said she is always pushing the boundries. NOT becuz short girls were complaining that they didnt have a chance. I personally don’t care about the girl who started whatever she started.(even though it really sucks that she messed up for other girls), There we no problems on the other side of the building, so most of the girls there had no idea of what was happening on that side.Also, if you going to pick girls taller than 5′7 then say it’s an casting for all heights and don’t call it a short cycle.
I agree
Tyra chose to have the short cycle.. yes because she is always pushing the boundaries but also because there were always shorter girls going to normal casting calls complainging about the height re-quirement. But if you think about it!!! I beleive it was her second season when Eva won she was the shortest out of all the other girls. So at the end of the day it doesnt matter how tall or short you are, if you have something the producers like they will take you!! It depends on how you carry yourself and the deminer you project!!!! They wanted mainly shorter girls but it strictly says many places they are not going to turn away taller girls.
is there gonna be another casting in new york
i hope tyra knows what happened so they can have another casting
I was there too yesterday and it was actually alot better than I expected. I was in the middle of all the chaos and I do believe it was management and the police fault for the chaos. I was next 2 the girl who did scream fire but what do u expect people 2 do when we were packed like sardines and all we could see was smoke…. the police did not calm the crowd down they did not let us no of anything that was happening so when she saw they smoke she screamed! That only started the pushing even more. Then 1 of the guys who was asked 2 get off of the line started a fight with another guy about 5 minutes after that. His sister was standing next 2 me and then next time I saw her she was in the middle of the fight. Then the baracades fell and a big space opened up directly in front of the fight. The open space cause people 2 believe someone had a gun. I was scared and I ran away from the fight as quick as possible. It took the cops too long 2 break up a 2man fight inwhich made everyone panic. Then thats when the captain shut the doors. I believe they closed the doors because it was after 5 and castings were suppose 2 be over @ 3! It was a first time experience 4 me, a big risk that I was taking. I was so close 2 the door and exactly thought I would b seen by the judges but the day went so smooth it seems like it was 2 good 2 be true. This is New York and they should of known 2 always be prepared for the worst and truthfully it could of been much worst. Management needs to come up with a better line plan because thats what really started the chaos. People were getting restless and the clock was ticking.
wow
i met lauren musacchio at the antm model auditions! and she was by far the prettiest girl there, she didnt even get seen by the judges. i wish i could have watched her win the whole thing. she was like an exotic godess. i told her to looked like adriana lima from victorias secret. if u see this lauren, wats up from shalanda, the girl that was next to u on 55th st.
i was one of the girls who panicked when someone yelled fire. girls was upset because i was trying to push my way out. i didnt wann die or anything so i got really scared. sorry to whoever i pushed but i just freaked out. i looked to the left there was no way out, i looked to the right there was no way out, i looked in front and back of me no way out so i freaked and i just knew that i was about to die from gun shot explosion or whatever. the line was complete chaos and i blame the organizers of the situation and true they weren’t even looking at people well. i think they had a set amount of people to pick from this particular event and they just did that by any means. they even picked this one girl who looked every bit of 200lbs. they know she wont make it. i think they was just trying to get it done and over with. antm casting call this cycle was a joke and i believe the show will be too. booooooooooooooooooo i don’t think i will be watching anymore either and i don’t care what anyone has to say…they can kiss my grits…TYRA YOUR CREW SUCKED BIG TIME DEUCES…..
i got to new york on friday, after a 5 hour bus ride from boston. also, a week earlier i waited 10 hours in providence only to be turned down and told there was not enough time to see me. so i decided to go to new york and audition. i was so upset to see how everything was run, i really am. i don’t mean to sound conceited, but i thought i had a pretty good chance at this. everyone around me told me they couldn’t believe i didn’t make it through, and to be honest i couldn’t really believe it either. but i understand that if the casting director isn’t interested in my look, but the fact that she wasn’t really paying attention, there isn’t really any way she could have choosen me. she was more concerned with how loud everyone was being inside the room of approximately 500 people. she was easily distracted by all the chaos, not even outside, but inside the hotel as well. we did not hand in our applications or pictures to anyone, we stood up in a line in our chairs, said our name age weight and height sat down. to the ones that the casting director did pay attention to, about 15 people out of those 300 sitting down got chosen to move on.
i’m only upset because i spent so much time and effort preparing my application and portfolio for them to not even glance at it. i really thought i had a chance but i suppose when you only give girls like us a chance once, it’s going to get crazy. it’s unfortunate if they only do one petite model season, because way too many girls are not getting a chance at this. they had no clue where the line started, or what door they were even going to let people in. they started switching doors and let a few people in at a time but it was extremely unorganized. i just wish we got the same chance and the same type of audition that everyone else got. there was no room that 100 girls went into at a time. the casting director couldn’t even see anyones bodies because we were sitting in close rows of chairs. oh well. nothing we can do now. i just hope maybe in the future there will be another chance like this. only run more smoothly and fairly.
Similar to what everyone has said, this was an absolute mess. This though I think should’ve been expected. I was one of the last girls to make it in before they officially closed doors. The original casting call time was to be set from 10-3 which was then moved to 8am-6pm. I got to the scene around 7:20 i’d say, thinking the casting started at 10. I was like in shock when i saw two blocks of organized lines of people sleeping in bags and blankets, as I started walking with my mother(she was my support) We decided to start walking around and asking where the end of the line was, when someone suddenly like screamed and then people started getting up and running, so i did too. That’s when they first started getting in. Lots of people were still asleep or getting up and trying to grab their things, others just abandoned all of their belongings. I ended squished with hundreds of other girls who told me they had been there 15-20 hours before. Some women even told me they had paid 300 a night in the actual hotel. Through all the pushing and stuff I finally got through. Once I finally got in we had to do another short line where time passed quite quickly. Then we got into the room where hundreds of girls sat in rows and were told to say their name, age, height, weight. Of course some girls decided to be obnoxious and loud and give unnecessary information like “im gay and I love you Tyra” as if she actually watched all these videos. The casting director silently followed the camara man and would jot down a number if she liked her. After watching one whole side of the room say their info. (i’d say about 150-250 girls ) She read 18 numbers. After that, she sat down at the end of the room, and began chatting, and was informed that NYPD wanted to shut them down. She got furious and started saying to quickly say your information and not to give your middle name or useless info b/c it was unimportant. As the girls from my side started to say their info she barely looked, too busy or distracted with the information from what was happening outside. From my side she only picked 4 numbers, which everyone was really upset because she barely looked at anyone. You could tell most girls were different yes, the ones who were chosen but all had strong cheekbones wide faces, ya know stuff like that. Once I walked out the whole chaos happened and girls were crying and screaming on sidewalks because of the fright. Many girls stayed on line but it was absolutely pointless for them too because they weren’t going to allow anyone in anymore because it was about to be six and the last girls inside were still being recorded. Overall, I feel exceptionally thankful and happy that I was able to get inside and at least give it a shot. It was devastating to see so many girls who had as much passion and hope as I did to get there.
p.s- I DO must say there was a TON of girls that should NOT have been there, and lots of girls were told so too by other girls who were mad as they waited in line. Meaning, if you’re 29 or 6′2 get the hell out, i see chicken feet on your eyes already.
You just know Tyra is going to make this whole thing about HER on her talkshow. It sounds like it was badly organized and that the cops weren’t informed so as to block the street off. The show is probably more to blame though. I hope no one was seriously hurt and if someone started the panic just for the heck of it, I hope they get what’s coming to them. It sounds like a few were arrested that may have been the instigators of everything. As for the C13 itself, I’d like to think that Tyra was going to concentrate on things that a short/petite model could get jobs for but I doubt it. If I see lots of runway training then I’ll know Tyra is clueless. She should have people from the industry involved in the castings and on panel. Actually, this site, http://petitemodelingtips.blogspot.com/ gives a lot of practical/useful info and the woman who maintains the site if a working petite model. She’d have been good to have involved with this cycle.
myspace.com/labori2525
i was there with my sister in law and it felt like the end of the world . I was so mad because i came from boston with my daughter .
i was right in front of the door about to go in when the riot started .It was bad enough that they had girls with hot breath and there period .Anyway I am not going to give up .Anyone that was there hit me on my myspace .myspace.com/labori2525
oh.. my… god. Thank God, I submitted my stuff through the mail. I didn’t think it was going to get this bad..
I loved the video of all this craziness so much, I blogged about it too: http://squareeyes.blinkx.com/?p=445
I’m really into the fact that it was the 5′7″ crew as opposed to the usual amazons who went nuts. Those li’l ladies are scrappy!
Being one of the thousands who stood on line for 8 & 1/2 hours (some more than myself) with a bunch of screaming girls is an event in it’s self. The whole thing was very unorganized. If the auditions say 10am to 3pm, you would think at 3pm they would either announce that they are no longer letting anyone else in OR they will be extending the time. Neither of these things happened. Still hopeful, I decided to stay for another hour and a half. By then the line was barely moving, I decided to leave. Now I know most of you would say “Oh, you loser. Why would you just give up?!” I can completely understand that, but I for one was not wasting my time. Luckily I left before all the chaos began. For all of the girls who took the time to wait as longggg as it took JUST to have the audition shut down is unfair. Things should have definatly been more organized.
Although the auditions were shut down, does not mean dreams should be either. Rumor is, that Tyra will be casting another audition for New York. So keep on keepin’ on ladies!!
OK, I am officially pissed off!
Let me not blame all of the NY Girls, but to whomever acted so ignorantly… you’re really on my bad side now.
Because of YOU the other auditions are not progressing as they should.
Because of YOU call backs will be later, WHICH means the air date will be later!
The Dallas, CHICAGO, and LA auditions are TBD!
I saw the video, and some pictures.
Now come on Why does EVERYBODY want to be a model… face it EVERYBODY can’t!
Just some inside *INFO* —-at the castings, INCLUDING NY the girls that ACTUALLY made it to round 2 were between 5.4 and a half and 5′7 and SLIM!!!!!! (with the few exceptions of SLIM TALLER ladies)
Some of you know that there is NO chance for you to even make it on the show, with your ghetto weaves… let me not go there.
Simply I am upset that this process is going to be prolonged over ignorant individuals chasing false, far-fetched hopes.
And to the ones that are offended, look in the mirror and ask yourself, should you really have been there…?
Sorry, but I had to say it.
I loved the girlz on the today show