Vogue recently discussed the new height requirements, saying it has been met with strong “derision from the American fashion community.”

But Tyra is not one to take criticism sitting down, OK! Magazine reports. At the 20th annual GLAAD media awards in New York, Banks addressed the criticism, noting, “The majority of the fashion industry is about tall girls, but the majority of the fashion industry is not about black women—so with America’s Next Top Model, I opened it for race, and now I’m opening it for height too.”

Tyra’s comrades, including Jay Manuel, also came to her defense. “The fashion industry is quite fascinating to me,” Manuel added at the GLAAD event. “Typically people will look at a model on the runway and say she has to have a certain physicality, that makes her a potential top model. But this is also the same industry that decided to take short Kate Moss and make her a superstar.”

Valid points, Jay. The next Kate Moss could very well be lurking around the corner. Just in time too, because it doesn’t look like she’s in any condition to be photographed anytime soon.

Operation Fabulous will ANTM experts Miss Jay Manuel and Mr. J Alexander as the switch their way across the country, invading small towns and picking the frumpiest Jane Doe’s to makeover.

The Hollywood Reporter says the inspiration for the series comes from a sacred right of Top Model passage: the Top Model makeover episode, in which castable beauties transform into maybe-model material. 

While Operation Fabulous is the first independent spinoff, Ty-Ty also has plans for a mini-reality show to air within her own talk show. This piggy-backing product will follow memorable contestants (but non-winners) from cycles 8, 9 and 10, and their lives post-Banks.