Tyra Banks is suing Netflix over her participation in its docuseries about "America's Next Top Model," alleging the creators misled her about the nature of the project and made defamatory claims about her through the editing.
Netflix dropped three episodes of "Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model" in February, delving into the modeling reality competition series Banks created in 2003 and highlighting allegations former contestants have since made against production, citing instances of alleged racism, exploitation, body shaming and sexual assault.
According to a legal complaint obtained by USA TODAY, the show's former host said the documentary was edited to support a false narrative and is asking for a jury to determine how much she should be paid in damages.
In the lawsuit, Banks said she participated in a 3.5-hour interview after being told the project was aiming to discuss the long-running reality show's legacy, including its successes and shortcomings. She said only 16 minutes of that interview were used by the docuseries creators, alleging her comments taking accountability for her actions were removed.
Through "selective editing, deliberate omission and surgical manipulation of continuous footage," the lawsuit says directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan allegedly created a false narrative that Banks knowingly allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted on the show and exploited the contestant's trauma for ratings.
"That narrative about Ms. Banks is a...
Tyra Banks is suing Netflix over her participation in its docuseries about “America’s Next Top Model,” alleging the creators misled her about the nature of the project and made defamatory claims a...