America’s Next Top Model creator and host Tyra Banks is firing back at Netflix following her appearance in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Tyra’s lawsuit alleges that her portrayal in the ANTM docuseries is defamatory. The Supermodel stated the doc was edited to support a false narrative.
Legal deets:
“Tyra Banks participated in the Netflix documentary series America’s Next Top Model (‘ANTM’) because she believed viewers deserved a candid conversation about the show’s legacy—its successes and its shortcomings. There are aspects of the show for which Ms. Banks takes accountability. She wanted ANTM viewers to hear that from her directly.”
“Going into her interview, Ms. Banks did not limit the ANTM topics the interviewer could ask,” the lawsuit continues. “The Netflix series was sold to viewers as a ‘documentary series.’ Netflix called it ‘the definitive, must-watch chronicle of America’s Next Top Model.'”
“The genre matters. Viewers of a documentary do not expect manufactured drama or constructed narratives. They expect facts. Because they were promised a documentary, that is exactly how viewers interacted with the Netflix Series.”
The edit:
Tyra’s lawsuit claims that just 16 minutes of her lengthy interview was used in the docuseries. Clips were “stripped of context and reassembled to support a false and defamatory narrative unrelated to what she actually expressed.” The final edit didn’t include Tyra taking accountability for the most controversial moments in ANTM.
“The false narrative the producers constructed—through selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage—included that Ms. Banks knowingly allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted on her show, exploited that contestant’s trauma for ratings, and then could not even remember it when asked. That narrative about Ms. Banks is a complete fabrication—one that Netflix streamed to a global audience of millions.”
