Tyra Banks sues Netflix for defamation over 'America's Next Top Model' docuseries

Tyra Banks has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix and several production companies, alleging her interview for the docuseries 'America's Next Top Model' was manipulated. Banks claims the platform edited her three-and-a-half-hour interview down to about 16 minutes, twisting her words to support a false and damaging narrative.

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The false narrative that the producers constructed, through selective editing, deliberate omission, and meticulous manipulation of images, included that Ms. Banks knowingly allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted on her program, exploited that contestant’s trauma to increase viewership, and then did not even remember it when asked.

The lawsuit, which also names 89 Blocks Holdings, EverWonder Studio, Netflix Music, and codirectors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan, asserts that the edited version of her testimony was not representative of what she actually said. Banks's legal team argues that the producers selectively edited, deliberately omitted, and meticulously manipulated footage to create a story that was entirely fabricated.

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That narrative is a complete fabrication, which Netflix broadcast to a global audience of millions.

According to the suit, a particularly egregious example involves contestant Shandi Sullivan. The docuseries suggests Banks knowingly allowed Sullivan to be sexually assaulted on the show and exploited her trauma for ratings, even appearing to forget the incident when questioned. The lawsuit states the unedited recording shows Banks acknowledging she remembered Sullivan's story, directly contradicting the narrative presented by Netflix.

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One of the aspects that has generated interest in America’s Next Top Model over the past twenty years has been a night when Sullivan, in a drunken state, had sex with a man in Milan and quickly confessed her infidelity to her longtime boyfriend.