Tyra Banks filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix on Saturday, accusing the streamer of twisting her interview for a documentary about America's Next Top Model and turning it into a false story about what she knew and when. The suit says the editing made it appear that Banks was reacting to a former contestant’s sexual assault allegation, even though she says she had never heard of it before her interview.
The filing targets Netflix’s three-part Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, a documentary that revisits both the show’s reach and the criticism that followed it. Banks says the project did not just question the legacy of the series. It also damaged her personal brand and hit her Sydney-based ice cream business, SMiZE & DREAM, after online ratings for the company fell following the documentary’s release.
That claim matters because Banks says she did not go into the interview with limits on what could be discussed. She says she agreed to a candid conversation about the show’s legacy, including its successes and shortcomings, but that her confessionals were stripped of context and rebuilt to support a story she never told. The lawsuit says Netflix aired only 16 minutes of a 3 1/2-hour interview, and that the final cut made it seem as if she was answering questions about a sexual assault claim tied to a former contestant when she was not.
The documentary itself includes Shandi Sullivan’s account that she was sexually assaulted during filming of the show’s second season, and Banks says she respects Sullivan’s perspective and the courage it takes to speak up. But she also says the producers knew exactly what they were doing when they left out that allegation during the interview and later stitched her comments together to imply indifference. In her telling, the problem is not that the documentary examined the show’s controversies. It is that, through selective editing and omission, it linked her to a claim she says was never raised with her at all.
Banks is seeking damages for lost future business opportunities, lost business income and other compounding losses, but she did not list a specific dollar amount. She has also expressed interest in a 25th season of America's Next Top Model, though it remains unclear whether another version of the series will happen. The lawsuit puts Netflix on the spot next: whether it defends the edit, answers the accusation, or keeps silent while the case moves toward trial.
