When longtime Brooklynite Shandi Sullivan watched herself in Netflix’s new docuseries, “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” she knew exactly what part of her life she would revisit.
“I really struggled at first when they asked me to do the documentary,” Sullivan told Brooklyn Paper. “I was like, I don’t know if I want to do it. I’m probably just going to cry the whole time because I know what they’re going to want to talk about. And that’s exactly what happened. I cried the whole time.”
More than two decades after appearing on “America’s Next Top Model” Cycle 2, Sullivan is once again fielding messages from strangers — only this time, the conversation feels different. Back in 2004, there was no Instagram inbox, no direct way for viewers to reach out. Now, she said, the outpouring of support has been “freaking crazy.”
Part of that renewed attention stems from conversations about a traumatic moment that aired during the show’s 2004 season, when Sullivan experienced a sexual assault on camera and its aftermath played out publicly.
In recent months, that support has translated into tangible help. She has raised nearly $20,000 to cope with her displacement, the loss of her cat, Parker, related medical bills and to hold onto a dream of opening an animal sanctuary in the borough.
“There have been moments where I’ve just started crying because I just don’t really know how to process it,” she said. “When the show first aired, we didn’t have social media as we do now. So I felt very alone in interactions that I would have with people. But now everyone can reach out to me. Everyone can check in on me and see if I’m okay.”
For Sullivan, that digital connection has become its own kind of community — something she’s been missing since she was forced out of her Brooklyn apartment last year.
Displaced after 11 years
Sullivan lived in her previous apartment in Bushwick for 11 years before being told she had to leave the building because it could be sold. The sudden displacement was jarring.
“I really miss living over there because I knew so many people on the block that had lived there most of their lives,” she said. “We all took care of the cats — the outdoor community cats.”
She described a tight-knit network and neighbors who fed and monitored local strays, coordinated trap-neuter-return efforts, and checked in on each other daily. Losing that felt like losing more than just the address.
“It’s just been very, very jolting and strange not having that community anymore.”
Now living in Park Slope for nearly a year, Sullivan said it hasn’t been easy to rebuild the same rhythm while working long hours. On top of that, she’s still waiting on half of her security deposit from her former landlord.
Her advice for any Brooklynite experiencing a similar situation?
“I would say if you go through something like that, make sure you document everything,” she said. “Keep all your receipts. Take your landlords to court. It’s a pain in the neck and it’s stressful and time-consuming, but you are worth it.”
An overwhelming wave of support
The renewed interest in the show from the docuseries unexpectedly collided with an older GoFundMe page Sullivan had created during her move. At first, she hesitated to repost it.
“I didn’t even want to — the GoFundMe was actually something I did last year when I was trying to move,” she said. “Everybody was like, just post it back up and put an update. And I was like, fine, I’ll do it.”
She woke up the next morning, stunned.
“I was like, ‘guys, what are y’all doing?’ I don’t think I’ve ever had that kind of money before. And it’s not a lot — to some people, that’s nothing. But to me it’s a lot.”
The GoFundMe has raised close to its $20,000 goal.
Much of the fundraiser’s urgency stemmed from an emergency veterinary bill for Parker, her beloved black-and-white cat who died last October. Sullivan had signed up in the middle of the night while Parker was in distress at the ER, eventually paying the balance this year thanks to donations from viewers.
“The stress that lifts from me going through all of this is tremendous,” she wrote in an update. “I just paid off the balance because of YOU!”
Sullivan is careful to say she’s not expecting anyone to give money. In fact, she often redirects supporters to something far more on-brand: her horror movie podcast.
From runways to horror films
“Urn Fulla Popcorn” — co-hosted with her longtime friend Timmy — began almost accidentally. The two met in New York 20 years ago and reconnected when he crashed on her couch during a promotional trip. Instead of catching up on life, they ended up talking about horror films for three hours.
“I just reached out to him after he got back home and said, what do you think about doing a podcast about horror movies since that’s basically all we talk about anyway?” she said. “We were like, nobody’s going to care about it. Let’s just do it and see what happens.”
They record roughly once a month, juggling full-time jobs and long distance — he’s in South Dakota, she’s in Brooklyn. Timmy edits; Sullivan handles the website, social media, and merch.
“If in a year nobody cares, we’ll just stop,” she recalled thinking. Instead, they surpassed 10,000 streams and launched a Patreon. The documentary has brought in even more listeners.
“I guess we’re just going to keep doing it,” she said, laughing.
Reclaiming the narrative
In the Netflix series, Sullivan revisits one of the most talked-about moments of her time on “America’s Next Top Model” and the emotional fallout that followed. She’s aware that some viewers question her account.
“The thing that I’ve been seeing a lot of people saying is that I’ve changed my story after all these years, which is not the case,” she said. “I’ve never changed my story. I just finally was able to tell everyone what happened to me behind the scenes.”
During a cast trip to Milan — the first overseas destination in the show’s history — Sullivan was sexually assaulted, an incident that later became one of the most widely discussed moments in the franchise. In the documentary, she reflects on the lack of intervention from production and says that, in hindsight, filming should have stopped. After the episode aired, production positioned the event like Sullivan entered an affair, complete with a stern message for the group from host Tyra Banks. She was labeled a “cheater.”
“They’re [producers] watching all the footage that was filmed and then writing a narrative for each person,” she said. “We’re just characters to them.”
Participating in the documentary, Sullivan said, was painful but necessary.
“It felt really good to just go, you know what? I’m going to tell everybody how I felt about everything, what truly went on behind the scenes. And if people believe me, they do. If they don’t, it’s not really my concern because I’m the one who lived it.”
Since the series aired, strangers have shared their own stories of manipulation and silence in high-pressure environments.
“I’m glad people feel comfortable enough to reach out and say something,” she said. “I always feel like it’s better to talk about it than just stay completely silent.”
Brooklyn joys, big dreams
Despite everything, Sullivan’s affection for Brooklyn remains intact — especially its quirks.
“The Japanese markets mostly,” she said without hesitation, singling out Hashi Market on Atlantic Avenue as “the greatest supermarket that has ever existed.”
She’s also found comfort at local neighborhood spots like Skylark, where she attends Sunday trivia nights, and R.U. Low’s, known for its karaoke.
“I’m bad at trivia, but it doesn’t matter,” she said. “I have so much fun anyway.”
Looking ahead, Sullivan dreams even bigger. If enough stability — and savings — come her way, she hopes to one day open an animal sanctuary in Brooklyn focused on elderly and special-needs cats.
“I would love to be that person that shelters reach out to,” she said. “Like, I’ll take those end-of-life cats. I’ll take the hospice cats.”
For now, she’s taking it one day at a time: working, podcasting, caring for her cats Fiona and Big Man, and navigating a sudden return to the spotlight.
“Dang y’all,” she wrote in her fundraiser update. “It’s been a lot. I am humbled beyond.”
