Tyra Banks has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix and the directors of its docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, alleging that the producers manipulated interview footage to construct a false narrative. The lawsuit, filed on Saturday in Los Angeles federal court, claims that Banks was interviewed for three and a half hours, but the footage was edited down to 16 minutes and used to support a defamatory story.
The lawsuit contends that the producers used “selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage” to create a narrative that Banks allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted on the show, used the trauma for ratings, and then could not remember the incident when asked. Banks’ lawyers argue that she was never told about or asked about the assault during the interview.
Banks is seeking damages against Netflix, directors Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy, and EverWonder Studio. She also seeks an injunction to stop the use of her image in connection with the docuseries’ soundtrack album. According to the lawsuit, Banks was not allowed to review the docuseries until a day before its release on 16 February and was not contacted for fact-checking.
Since the docuseries’ release, public reaction has been harsh, with Banks’ ice cream shop in Sydney, SMiZE + DREAM, suffering review bombing on Google. Banks’ lawyers stated that her efforts to resolve the matter directly with Netflix were refused, adding: “This lawsuit is that answer.”
