Tyra Banks Sues Netflix Over ANTM Documentary Editing
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- Tyra Banks filed a defamation suit Saturday in Los Angeles federal court against Netflix, directors Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy, and EverWonder Studio over the docuseries Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model.
- Banks alleges her 3.5 hours of interview footage — including on-the-record accountability for controversial ANTM decisions — was edited down to 16 minutes, with the accountability portion placed 'on the cutting room floor.'
- The lawsuit contends producers used 'selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation' to make it appear Banks knew she was being asked about a sexual assault and intentionally evaded the topic, though she was never told an assault was the subject.
- Banks was allowed to review the docuseries only one day before its February 16 release and was never contacted for fact-checking, according to the filing; her lawyers' March request to Netflix and EverWonder for the full interview footage was denied.
- Banks is seeking damages plus an injunction barring use of her image in the docuseries' soundtrack album; she has previously acknowledged 'the insensitivity of past ANTM moments' and 'some really off choices' from the show's 24-season run.
- The fallout has extended to Banks' Sydney ice cream shop SMiZE + DREAM, which the lawsuit says has been targeted with review bombing on Google since the series aired.
Why it matters: Banks isn't denying the show's problems — she admits them in the filing. She's arguing a specific editorial choice falsely cast her as someone who knew about and exploited a contestant's sexual assault, a narrative that traveled to her business's Google reviews. For Netflix, the suit tests how much latitude documentary editors have to compress hours of source material into a 16-minute portrayal.
