Kate Upton Told She Was ‘Too American’ To Be A Model

A major modeling agency told Kate Upton that she was “too American” to be a model.

The 21-year-old said she was rejected because the agency believed she would be too “lazy” to work because of her nationality.

“I’m not going to name names, but one agency told me, ‘You’re too American, and everybody knows American women are lazy.’ I was so offended! I’ve never been so offended,” she said.

“I was like, ‘You know that you’re in America, right?’ And it wasn’t ‘American models’ – it was ‘American women are lazy,’ period! I feel like a lot of women would disagree with that. A lot,” she added.

Upton went to International Management Group, which boasts supermodels Kate Moss and Gisele Bundchen as clients.

“I walked in and they said, ‘You’re so American, which is great. You’re exactly what we’re looking for,'” she said. “A totally different response, and I was like, ‘That’s who I’m signing with.'”

Upton’s brief modeling career has already landed her on the cover of Sports Illustrated(twice), Vogue Italia and British Vogue, GQ, Esquire, and others. She most recently appeared on Vanity Fair‘s 100th anniversary cover doing her best Marilyn Monroe impression.

Earlier this month, Kate Upton was named Model of the Year at the 10th Annual Style Awards on September 4. However, Upton has confessed that the industry isn’t always kind to models.

“People deal with models like they are children,” she said. “They think they can pull one over on you. It’s actually funny. I’m always like, I’m about to pull something on you, and you’re so focused on thinking I’m dumb you’re not even going to know.”

She has also said that she’s afraid she is viewed as little more than an object after the first Sports Illustrated cover.

“Every single guy I met was either married or about to be married, and I felt like I was their bachelor present or something,” she said. “I’m not a toy, I’m a human. I’m not here to be used. I am a grown woman, and you need to figure your s**t out.”

[Photo credit: Phil Stafford / Shutterstock.com]