Earlier this year, Netflix released a documentary on the hit modeling series, America’s Next Top Model, which featured the show’s creator, Tyra Banks, past contestants, and judges. However, Tyra is now suing the streaming service for defamation over the documentary.
According to documents, Tyra filed the lawsuit on June 13th, claiming that her portrayal in the project was defamatory and edited to push a false narrative.
Tyra claims that of the lengthy interview she gave for the documentary, only 16 minutes were used. She says that clips were “stripped of context and reassembled to support a false and defamatory narrative unrelated to what she actually expressed.”
The lawsuit states, “The Netflix series Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model (the ‘Netflix Series’) was sold to viewers as a ‘documentary series.’ Netflix called it ‘the definitive, must-watch chronicle of America’s Next Top Model.’ The genre matters. Viewers of a documentary do not expect manufactured drama or constructed narratives. They expect facts. Because they were promised a documentary, that is exactly how viewers interacted with the Netflix Series.”
Claims of false narratives included Tyra’s reaction to cycle 2 contestant, Shandi Sullivan’s alleged sexual assault. In the lawsuit, it claims that Tyra was unaware that Shandi classified what happened to her as sexual assault. Also, the narrative that she did not visit Miss J. Alexander following his stroke was also addressed.
Tyra is suing the streaming service for “damages, including loss of future business opportunities, loss of business income, other compounding losses, as will be shown at trial.”
