Key facts
- Tyra Banks is suing Netflix and the directors of the docuseries "Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model" for defamation.
Tyra Banks has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix and the directors of its docuseries "Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model." Banks alleges that hours of her interview footage were selectively edited and manipulated to create a false narrative, particularly concerning a contestant's alleged sexual assault.
This lawsuit highlights the potential legal ramifications of selective editing in documentary filmmaking and the impact of such portrayals on public figures and their businesses. It raises questions about journalistic ethics in reality television and the responsibility of platforms like Netflix in presenting factual narratives.
Tyra Banks has initiated a defamation lawsuit against Netflix and the directors of its docuseries "Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model." Banks, the creator and host of "America's Next Top Model," alleges that her extensive interview footage was selectively edited and manipulated to construct a false and damaging narrative, particularly concerning her alleged knowledge of a contestant's sexual assault.
According to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court, Banks was interviewed for 3.5 hours, during which she reportedly took responsibility for some of the show's controversial decisions. However, this footage was allegedly condensed to 16 minutes and altered to support a narrative unrelated to her actual statements. Her legal team stated that the accountability she expressed was omitted, preventing viewers from seeing it.
The lawsuit specifically contends that the producers used "selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation" to portray Banks as aware of a sexual assault, using the contestant's trauma for ratings, and then feigning ignorance when questioned. Banks' lawyers assert she was not informed about the alleged assault during the interview and was not permitted to review the docuseries until the day before its release on February 16.
Banks claims she was not contacted for fact-checking and was not given an opportunity to respond to accusations from other participants, some of whom allegedly had grievances against her and consulted on the docuseries. Her legal team stated that had she known these individuals were involved in shaping the editorial direction, she would not have participated, recognizing she was being "set up."
Following the docuseries' release, Banks has faced significant public backlash, which her lawsuit notes has even affected her ice cream shop, SMiZE & DREAM, in Sydney, Australia, through "review bombing" on Google. Banks' lawyers reached out to Netflix in March to request access to the full interview footage, but their request was denied. The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction to bar the use of her image in connection with the docuseries' soundtrack album.