Tyra Banks Suing Netflix Over 'America's Next Top Model' Docuseries

Tyra Banks spent her life in front of the cameras, but this time, she’s not happy with how she looks.

TMZ reports that Banks is suing Netflix over its documentary Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model and how it portrayed her.

She says that the producers failed to present an accurate narrative of events on the show and that she received the final documentary the day before it aired on the streamer.

The defamation lawsuit, filed Saturday, alleges that Netflix used just a 16-minute clip from a three-hour interview she provided. That created a “false and defamatory” narrative, the lawsuit says.

Hosted by Banks, America’s Next Top Model aired for 24 seasons from 2003 to 2018 on UPN, the CW and VH1 in various iterations, becoming one of reality television’s most successful franchises. It’s been credited as the inspiration for RuPaul’s Drag Race, which has aired for 17 years and won 29 Emmy Awards.

During its run, the show is credited for advancing the careers of its first winner, Adrienne Curry as a TV personality and influencer, as well as NBA WAG Winnie Harlow, who became an in-demand model despite suffering from vitiligo; actress YaYa DaCosta and actress/reality show star Eva Marcille, who competed on ANTM as Eva Pigford.

America’s Next Top Model included judges Kimora Lee Simmons, Miss J. Alexander, Twiggy, Rita Ora, Ashley Graham, Law Roach, Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker.

Banks says that the documentary made it appear that she didn’t remember Shandi Sullivan, who said in the doc that she was sexually assaulted while competing on the show. Banks also said that producers misrepresented her response to Alexander’s 2022 stroke.

The lawsuit claims that via “selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage – including that Ms. Banks knowingly allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted on her show, exploited that contestant’s trauma for ratings, and then could not even remember it when asked,” that the network misrepresented Banks.

As for Alexander, who had a stroke in 2022, Bank’s lawsuit said that she was defamed there as well.

“Had the producers informed Ms. Banks that part of the Netflix series narrative would include Miss J saying that Ms. Banks never visited him in the hospital, Ms. Banks would have explained that she had been living in Australia for two-and-a-half years,” the lawsuit says. “She would have shown how hard she tried to get in touch with Miss J personally when she had initially heard the news of his stroke.”

The lawsuit adds, “And she would have shown the text message that arrived from Miss J’s family member who eventually texted back months later and apologized for not responding to Ms. Banks’ texts and multiple calls sooner due to her being focused on getting him better.”

Banks also alleges that a soundtrack attached to the doc used her image without her permission.

Banks’ latest endeavor is a brick-and-mortar ice cream store in Sydney, Australia, called Smize and Dream. It’s dedicated to her mother, Carolyn, who took Banks on ice-cream outings every Friday night while she was growing up.

See social media’s reaction to Banks taking legal action below.