Supermodel Tyra Banks is taking Netflix to court. She claims the streaming giant’s docuseries about her hit show twisted her words to create a false narrative.
In a federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Saturday, Banks accuses Netflix and the directors of Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model of defamation.
Tyra Banks’ lawsuit against Netflix over America’s Next Top Model
The lawsuit is filed against Netflix, directors Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy, and EverWonder Studio. Tyra Banks alleges she sat for a three-and-a-half-hour interview where she took accountability for controversial moments on America’s Next Top Model. That raw footage was then cut to just 16 minutes.
“The accountability Ms. Banks took ended up on the cutting room floor. It was there, but viewers were never given the opportunity to see it,” her lawyers wrote in the complaint. The suit argues this “selective editing” and “surgical manipulation” fabricated a storyline that she allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted, exploited the trauma for ratings, and then feigned ignorance (via The Associated Press).
Banks strongly disputes this. Her legal team states she was never informed of or asked about the alleged assault during filming. Instead, they contend, the editing made it appear she was deliberately dodging a topic that was never actually raised.
The America’s Next Top Model creator is seeking damages and an injunction to stop her image from being used in connection with the docuseries’ soundtrack album. The lawsuit reveals she was not allowed to preview the final cut until a day before its February 16 release, nor was she contacted for fact-checking or given a chance to respond to accusations from other participants.
Additionally, the lawsuit points out that other former judges from the show—including one who allegedly “holds a grudge”—served as consultants, while Banks was shut out. Moreover, it claims public backlash has been “swift, harsh, and directed squarely at Ms. Banks,” extending even to her SMiZE & DREAM ice cream shop in Sydney, which suffered review bombing on Google.
America’s Next Top Model ran for 24 seasons starting in 2003 and has faced a critical reassessment over accusations of body shaming and manipulation.
