Beverly Johnson recalled a racist incident she experienced at a hotel back in the ’80s.
The 71-year-old supermodel revealed that a hotel had drained their pool after she swam in it, and said she learned about it from her friends many years later in 2012.
‘I did not know until we all went to the [late modeling agent] Eileen Ford’s 90th birthday party,’ she explained to Page Six in an interview published on Saturday.
‘All the models were there,’ she recalled. ‘And one girl said to me, “Remember when they drained the pool? When you got in the pool at the so-and-so hotel?”
The actress — who was spotted with her family at her one-woman, off-Broadway play the day before — added: ‘I was like, “They did?” And she said, “You didn’t know that?”‘
Beverly Johnson, 71, recalled a racist incident she experienced at a hotel back in the ’80s; She is pictured January 4th
The supermodel revealed that a hotel had drained their pool after she swam in it, and said she learned about it from her friends many years later in 2012; seen in 1998
The star — who secretly eloped with her financier fiance Brian Maillian in Las Vegas last year — declined to name the hotel nor reveal its location.
‘So you get a lot of that,’ she said about the hateful experiences she faced during her iconic, decades-spanning modeling career. ‘People draining pools. It was racist.’
‘As a model, there were different kinds of things that would happen to me because I was Black,’ she continued.
Despite being one of the most iconic supermodels, she still faced ugly racism, but the entrepreneur recalled one model who always supported her.
‘Lauren Hutton would go to photoshoots and say out loud, “Why isn’t Beverly on the cover of magazines? She is just as pretty.”‘
Johnson said said it was especially meaningful for Hutton to advocate for her as she was the ‘it girl’ at the time and could help her land more modeling opportunities.
‘At the time Lauren was on every cover,’ she continued. ‘She was the it girl, so it was major for her to say that out loud at the time.’
This year, Johnson is celebrating the 50th anniversary of being the first Black woman to grace the cover of American Vogue in 1974.
‘So you get a lot of that,’ she said about the hateful experiences she faced during her iconic, decades-spanning modeling career. ‘As a model, there were different kinds of things that would happen to me because I was Black’; seen in 1980s
This year, Johnson is celebrating the 50th anniversary of being the first Black woman to grace the cover of American Vogue in 1974
Over the years, she has graced over 500 magazine covers as well as worked in theater and television. To commemorate her legacy, she is performing in her self-titled, off-Broadway play titled Beverly Johnson: IN VOGUE about her story; seen in 1977
Over the years, she has graced over 500 magazine covers as well as worked in theater and television.
To commemorate her legacy, she is performing in her self-titled, off-Broadway play titled Beverly Johnson: IN VOGUE.
According to the digital program, the show explores not only her remarkable modeling career spanning five decades but also ‘her unimaginable tumultuous relationships, the truth about Bill Cosby, and her involvement in the #MeToo movement’.
Her ‘live autobiography’ was written by herself alongside director Josh Ravetch about not only her incredible and iconic modeling career but also dives into her personal life story.
Beverly Johnson: IN VOGUE will play at 59E59 Theaters from January 9 through February 4.
