Tyra Banks is suing Netflix for defamation and claims she was manipulated into participating in the documentary “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.”
“Tyra Banks participated in the Netflix documentary series ‘America’s Next Top Model’ (‘ANTM’) because she believed viewers deserved a frank conversation about the show’s legacy — its successes and its shortcomings,” the lawsuit, which was filed Saturday, says: People reports.
“There are aspects of the show that Ms. Banks takes responsibility for and she wanted ANTM viewers to hear that directly from her.”
“When conducting her interview, Ms. Banks did not limit the ANTM topics the interviewer could ask,” the lawsuit continues. “During a three-and-a-half-hour interview, Ms. Banks answered questions about the history of the groundbreaking show, including criticism of decisions she would handle differently today.”
Of that three-hour interview, the former model claims that only 16 minutes of her conversation with producers were used in the final product and that the clips that were used were “stripped out of context and repackaged to support a false and defamatory narrative that has nothing to do with what she actually expressed.”
“The Netflix series Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model (the Netflix series) was sold to viewers as a ‘documentary series,'” the lawsuit continued.
Netflix called it “the definitive, must-see chronicle of America’s Next Top Model.” Genre matters. Viewers of the documentary don’t expect manufactured drama or constructed narratives. They expect facts. “Because they were promised a documentary, this is exactly how viewers interacted with the Netflix series,” the lawsuit adds.
As those who watched will recall, Banks has been responsible for many of the controversial storylines featured on the reality modeling competition series.
While some of her comments were rejected from the edit that was erased, Banks also appears to take issue with some of the topics that were left out — namely former contestant Shandi Sullivan’s testimony from the show.
In the docu-series, Sullivan recalls being sexually assaulted by a model during the contestants’ second cycle stay in Italy. A video from the season showed Sullivan drinking and partying with the girls and some other male models before climbing into bed with one of them.
The former model told viewers that she blacked out when the interaction happened. But the reality show portrayed the incident as a cheating scandal (Sullivan had a boyfriend at the time) rather than an assault.
In another clip, Banks is shown in her confessional admitting knowledge of the assault but claiming she was not involved in producing or editing the storylines.
The lawsuit continues: “Worse still, the false narrative created by the producers — through selective editing, intentional omissions, and surgical manipulation of ongoing footage — included that Ms. Banks knowingly allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted on her show, exploited that contestant’s trauma to gain ratings, and then couldn’t even remember it when asked. This narrative about Ms. Banks is a complete fabrication — a story that Netflix broadcast to a global audience of millions.”
Banks also responded to allegations that she halted production during one cycle after a crew member reported that a regular ANTM cast member engaged in inappropriate behavior.
“This response was not hypothetical. It could have been 20 based on what Ms. Banks actually did during one cycle after a crew member informed Ms. Banks directly that another regular ANTM cast member had engaged in a pattern of inappropriate sexual conduct during production of ANTM,” the lawsuit continues.
“Ms. Banks immediately shared the report with other executives and ensured the issue was escalated to the network,” the lawsuit adds. “Ms. Banks acted promptly and gave the matter the serious attention it deserved. In response, production was temporarily halted so that all cast and crew could undergo sexual harassment training conducted by an outside expert.”
Banks require a jury trial to determine the “appropriate” amount they should receive in damages.
A rep for the model did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.