Tyra Banks has launched legal action against Netflix, accusing the streaming platform and documentary filmmakers of defamation through what she claims is misleading portrayal in a recent docuseries examining America's Next Top Model. The lawsuit, lodged Saturday in Los Angeles federal court, names directors Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy, along with production company EverWonder Studio, as defendants. Banks is pursuing damages and seeking an injunction to prevent her image being used in connection with the docuseries' soundtrack album.
Central to Banks' complaint is an allegation that the filmmakers employed "selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage" to construct a narrative suggesting she permitted a contestant to experience sexual assault, exploited that trauma for viewership, and feigned memory loss when questioned. Her legal team contends that Banks was not actually informed she would be asked about this matter during interviews and was intentionally made to appear evasive.
The model, who created and hosted the competition series that debuted in 2003 and ran 24 seasons, says the documentary presentation distorts her actual statements. Her attorneys emphasize that Banks was kept in the dark about critical production decisions. She gained access to the completed series merely one day before its February 16 release and never received fact-checking outreach following her interviews. Additionally, Banks was excluded from responding to allegations levelled by other participants and judges consulted on the project.
Banks' legal representatives argue that her exclusion from the editorial process while other judges—including one they suggest harbours personal animosity toward her—wielded influence should have been a warning sign. "Had Ms. Banks known these individuals were so deeply involved in the formulation of the Netflix Series, also serving as consultants shaping the editorial direction, and that she had been excluded from such a role, it would have raised a red flag," the lawsuit stated.
Following the series' broadcast, Banks contends that public backlash has been severe and directed at her personally. Her ice cream establishment in Sydney, Australia, SMiZE & DREAM, has experienced review bombing on Google, according to court filings. Banks' team approached Netflix in March requesting complete interview footage, a request both Netflix and EverWonder declined.
The ANTM franchise has faced reckonings in recent years over accusations ranging from body shaming and contestant manipulation to inappropriate photoshoots. Banks has previously acknowledged "the insensitivity of past ANTM moments" and "some really off choices." Her lawyers assert that authentic conversation about the show's complicated legacy has been overshadowed by allegations she never had opportunity to address before broadcast.
