Beverly Johnson recalled a racist incident she experienced at a hotel in the '80s.
The 71-year-old supermodel revealed that a hotel emptied the pool after she swam in it and said she found out about it from her friends many years later in 2012.
“I didn’t know until we were all there [late modeling agent] “Eileen Ford’s 90th birthday party,” she told Page Six in an interview published Saturday.
“All the models were there,” she remembers. “And a girl said to me, “Do you remember when they drained the pool?” When you got into the pool at so-and-so hotel?”
The actress, who was seen with her family at her one-woman off-Broadway play the day before, added: “I thought, 'They did?'” And she said: “You didn't know that?”
Beverly Johnson, 71, recalled a racist incident she experienced at a hotel in the 1980s; She is pictured on January 4th
The supermodel revealed that a hotel emptied the pool after she swam in it and said she found out about it from her friends many years later in 2012; seen in 1998
The star, who secretly eloped with fiancé Brian Maillian in Las Vegas last year, would not reveal the name of the hotel or its location.
“You get a lot of that,” she said of the hateful experiences she had during her legendary, decades-long modeling career. “People draining pools. It was racist.”
“As a model, different things happened to me because I was Black,” she continued.
Despite being one of the most famous supermodels, she still faced ugly racism, but the entrepreneur remembered a model who always supported her.
“Lauren Hutton would go to photo shoots and say out loud, 'Why isn't Beverly on the covers of magazines? She’s just as pretty.”
Johnson said it was especially important for Hutton to advocate for her because she was the “it girl” at the time and could help her get more modeling opportunities.
“Back then, Lauren was on every cover,” she continued. “She was the It girl, so it was important for her to say that out loud at the time.”
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Johnson becoming the first black woman to grace the cover of American Vogue in 1974.
“You get a lot of that,” she said of the hateful experiences she had during her legendary, decades-long modeling career. “As a model, various things happened to me because I was Black”; seen in the 1980s
Johnson also recalled that fellow model Lauren Hutton always stood up for her, saying that this was particularly meaningful since she was the “it girl” at the time; Hutton seen in 1983
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Johnson becoming the first black woman to grace the cover of American Vogue in 1974
Over the years she has graced over 500 magazine covers and worked in theater and television. To commemorate her legacy, she appears in her self-titled off-Broadway play about her story, titled “Beverly Johnson: IN VOGUE”; seen in 1977
Over the years she has graced over 500 magazine covers and worked in theater and television.
To honor her legacy, she appears in her self-titled Off-Broadway play entitled Beverly Johnson: IN VOGUE.
According to the digital program, the show explores not only her remarkable modeling career spanning five decades, but also “her unimaginably tumultuous relationships, the truth about Bill Cosby and her involvement in the #MeToo movement.”
Her “live autobiography” was written by herself with director Josh Ravetch and is not only about her incredible and iconic modeling career, but also delves into her personal life story.
Beverly Johnson: IN VOGUE will play in 59E59 theaters from January 9th to February 4th.