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Tyra Banks has sued Netflix, claiming she was defamed in the recent “America’s Next Top Model” docuseries “Reality Check.”
The supermodel and former ANTMThe presenter took part in the streaming service’s explosive documentary series and gave an interview. However, the lawsuit accuses Netflix of editing Banks’ interview to portray her in a negative light.
“Tyra Banks contributed to the Netflix documentary series ‘America’s Next Top Model’ (‘ANTM’) because she believed that viewers deserved an open conversation about the show’s legacy – its successes and its shortcomings,” says the lawsuit, first reported by People. “There are aspects of the show for which Ms. Banks takes responsibility, and she wanted ANTM viewers to hear that directly from her.”
Manipulated set climate
Many of the models featured in the docuseries describe an on-set work environment that was chaotic, manipulated by producers and allegedly ignored industry standards for emotional and physical safety – experiences that left them humiliated, traumatized and unable to work after their time on the show.
The lawsuit alleges that Banks sat down for a four-hour interview with the documentary series’ filmmakers, only 16 minutes of which were used in “Reality Check.” As a result of this extreme editing, her interview was “taken out of context and assembled into a false, defamatory narrative that has nothing to do with what she actually said.”
“Worse still, the false narrative that the producers constructed – through selective editing, deliberate omission and surgical manipulation of related footage – included that Ms. Banks knowingly allowed a contestant on her show to be sexually assaulted, that she exploited that contestant’s trauma for ratings, and then couldn’t even remember it when asked,” the lawsuit continues. “This portrayal of Ms. Banks is a complete fabrication – one that Netflix has made available to a global audience of millions.”
Sullivan’s allegations
In an interview with ROLLING STONE Said “ANTM” Season 2 contestant Shandi Sullivan – whose cheating affair was a central storyline of that season, an incident Sullivan now describes as sexual assault – that Banks refused to take responsibility for her behavior on the reality show. “How can you treat people as milk cows instead of people?” says Sullivan. “That’s wrong, no matter the year.”
Sullivan’s allegations feature prominently in Banks’ lawsuit. “The implication is devastating and intended: that Tyra Banks cannot even remember the story of the woman who was abused on her show,” the lawsuit says. “But that was a lie. The full footage of Ms. Banks’ interview shows two things that producers edited out and didn’t show viewers in Episode 1: Before looking up, Ms. Banks nods – clearly, unmistakably – and immediately says, ‘I remember her story.’ By cutting the nod from the middle of the sequence and cutting off Ms. Banks’ comment at the end, the producers ensured that viewers saw only the lie and not the truth.”
Banks is calling for a jury to determine the “appropriate” amount of damages.