Tyra Banks & Ken Mok on Why 'ANTM' Didn't Interrupt Shandi's Traumatic Shower Scene

"America's Next Top Model" creator and host Tyra Banks is finally adding some context to why the show documented Shandi Sullivan's "drunk shower sex" ... which the Season 2 contestant says was sexual assault.

To catch you up ... Shandi opened up about her experience on the reality show's second season -- AKA Cycle 2 -- for the new Netflix docuseries, "Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model."

Fans will remember one of the show's storylines seemed to suggest Shandi had cheated on her boyfriend during a wild night of drinking ... but Shandi says the sexual encounter occurred without her consent.

Shandi told People ... "I think after getting out of the hot tub, and like whatever happened after that, I think they should have f***ing like ... been like, 'Alright, this has gone too far. We got it. We gotta pull her out of this.'"

But instead, they filmed the event and the aftermath.

Tyra told People, "I do remember her story. It's a little difficult for me to talk about production because that's not my territory."

Tyra also told People she wasn't the Head of Story ... "That's [executive producer] Ken Mok, but I did become a master editor. It's important for people to know that we didn't put everything on TV."

According to Ken, they "scaled back" Shandi's traumatic scenes "in a significant way."

But, he maintained ... "We treated 'Top Model' as a documentary. And we told the girls that. We would go over the rules. There's going to be cameras with you 24/7, day in and day out, and they're going to cover everything -- the good, the bad, and everything in between. No matter what happens while you're on camera, we're going to document all of that."