Tyra Banks has launched a defamation case against Netflix, the docuseries directors Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy, and production company EverWonder Studio over their America's Next Top Model documentary. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court on Saturday, alleges that the streaming platform and filmmakers employed "selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage" to construct a misleading narrative around Banks' involvement with a contestant's sexual assault allegation.
According to the legal filing, Banks' legal team contends that editors manipulated her interview footage to suggest she knew she was being questioned about sexual assault and deliberately avoided the topic. The lawsuit clarifies that Banks was never informed about the assault during her interview and therefore could not have intentionally dodged the question. Banks is pursuing monetary damages and seeking an injunction to prevent use of her image in connection with the docuseries' accompanying soundtrack album.
Banks' attorneys argue that material demonstrating her accountability for the show's controversial moments was filmed but deliberately excluded from the final cut. The model learned of the documentary's contents only one day before its February 16 release and was not granted the chance to fact-check the material or respond to allegations from other participants. The lawsuit notes that certain former judges from the show consulted on the project, including one whom Banks' lawyers say harbours animosity toward her.
The America's Next Top Model franchise, which launched in 2003 and ran for 24 seasons, has faced intense scrutiny in recent times regarding body shaming practices, contestant manipulation, and questionable creative decisions. Banks has previously acknowledged "the insensitivity of past ANTM moments" and recognised "some really off choices." Following the documentary's release, social media reaction has been overwhelmingly negative, with the backlash even affecting Banks' ice cream shop, SMiZE & DREAM, in Sydney, Australia, which faced review bombing on Google.
Banks' legal representatives sought access to the complete interview footage from Netflix and EverWonder in March, but both parties refused the request. The lawsuit emphasises that had Banks been aware of the consultants' involvement in shaping the docuseries' editorial direction and her own exclusion from that process, she would have declined participation. "Every other conversation about ANTM's legacy - including the candid reflection Ms. Banks came prepared to have - is now drowned out by an accusation she was never given the chance to answer," her lawyers stated, noting that previous attempts to resolve the matter directly with Netflix and producers were rejected.
