Tyra Banks sues Netflix for defamation, claims "surgical manipulation" of her 'Reality Check' interview

Washington [US], June 14 (ANI): Model and TV personality Tyra Banks has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, alleging that her appearance in a recent documentary series about ‘America’s Next Top Model’ was edited in a misleading way that damaged her reputation, the Variety reported.

Banks filed the lawsuit on Saturday against Netflix, 89 Blocks Holdings, EverWonder Studio, Netflix Music, and the series’ co-directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan, according to court documents obtained by Variety.

The lawsuit stems from ‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model’, a documentary series that revisits the long-running reality show and examines some of the controversies surrounding it.

Banks claims she participated in a lengthy interview for the project, which lasted around three-and-a-half hours. However, she alleges that only about 16 minutes of her interview were used in the final series and that her comments were edited in a way that created a false impression.

According to the lawsuit, Banks argues that the documentary used “selective editing” and omitted important parts of her responses, including moments where she accepted responsibility for certain shortcomings of the show. Her legal team claims those portions were left out of the final version presented to viewers.

“Worse, the false narrative the producers constructed, through selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage, included 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,” the suit read, as per Variety. “That narrative about Ms Banks is a complete fabrication, one that Netflix streamed to a global audience of millions.”

“One of the areas of interest about ‘ANTM’ over the last twenty years has been about an evening during which Ms Sullivan was intoxicated, had intercourse with a man in Milan, and quickly confessed her infidelity to her longtime boyfriend,” the suit further read.

“On the Netflix Series, Ms Sullivan is shown describing the event as an assault, something Ms Banks had never heard before and was not told during her interview. Having withheld that information, Ms Loushy asks Ms Banks: ‘You remember the story with Shandi?’ The episode shows Ms Banks glance upward, say ‘um,’ and then the screen cuts to black. The implication is devastating and deliberate: that Tyra Banks cannot even remember the story of the woman who was assaulted on her show.”

Banks, according to Variety, hosted ‘America’s Next Top Model’ for 22 cycles after launching the reality competition series in 2003. The programme became one of the most successful reality television franchises of its era and helped establish Banks as one of television’s most recognisable hosts.

Neither Netflix nor the filmmakers had publicly responded to the lawsuit at the time of reporting. (ANI)

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