June 15, (THEWILL) — American supermodel, Tyra Banks, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix over its docuseries about her reality show “America’s Next Top Model”.
The lawsuit, filed on June 13 in Los Angeles federal court, claims the series misrepresents Banks through selective editing of her interview footage.
Banks, who created and hosted the show, says she took part in a three-and-a-half-hour interview for the docuseries, but only about 16 minutes were used. She says the footage was edited out of context and created a false narrative.
The complaint alleges the series wrongly suggests she allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted on the show and later acted as if she could not remember it. Banks says she was never presented with that accusation during her interview, and that the final edit is misleading.
The lawsuit also says she wanted to take responsibility for parts of the show’s history, but those comments were removed from the final version.
Banks says the series has also harmed her business interests, including her ice cream brand SMiZE & DREAM, which has faced online backlash since the release.
The docuseries, “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model”, looks at the history of “America’s Next Top Model”, which ran for 24 seasons and has faced criticism over the years regarding its treatment of contestants.
Banks is seeking a jury trial and damages. America’s Next Top Model has not commented publicly on the lawsuit, and Netflix has also not responded.
Evi Ben Ezaga writes on entertainment, culture, and trending stories.
