Kylie Bisutti's new memoir may be titled I'm No Angel, but the 2009 Victoria's Secret Model Search winner says it doesn't target the popular brand. After Victoria's Secret released a statement claiming Bisutti has made "numerous fabrications and misstatements" in her book, the 23-year-old ex runway model appeared on the TODAY show Tuesday, May 14 to defend herself.
"My response is, all the truth is in the book," Bisutti told Savannah Guthrie, regarding the company's harsh words. "My book is really not about Victoria's Secret. It's about the modeling industry as a whole and about helping girls with self-body image issues, eating disorders and really exposing the entire industry for what it is. It's not targeting their brand."
In her memoir, I'm No Angel: From Victoria's Secret Model to Role Model, Bisutti recalls her struggles breaking into the modeling business, and eventually winning a Victoria's Secret model search in 2009. However, after saying she felt "like a piece of meat" and realizing she "didn't want to model anything that sold sex," Bisutti decided to quit and focus on her marriage and relationship with God.
In an Apr. 26 statement, Victoria's Secret told Us Weekly: "Ms. Bisutti has made numerous fabrications and misstatements of fact regarding her brief association with Victoria's Secret," a spokesperson for the lingerie company said. "She was never a Victoria's Secret 'Angel' as defined by the terms of our Angel model contract . . . She has repeatedly fabricated her work experience with Victoria's Secret — including a relationship that simply did not exist."
But Bisutti insists that her book isn't specifically about her time working for Victoria's Secret. "I believe that the modeling industry as a whole really exploits young girls," she told Guthrie. "I'm just thankful that God changed my heart earlier on rather than being five or 10 years down the road runway modeling or lingerie modeling."
