Furious catwalk queen Tyra Banks is suing Netflix, claiming it defamed her in its docuseriesReality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, which was released in February, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The series was a critical look back at America’s Next Top Model – ANTM – Banks’ controversial reality show that ran from 2013 to 2018. In the documentary, former contestants call her out for her tantrums and mean-girl antics and suggest that she exploited their trauma for ratings.
Banks Claims Interview Was Manipulated
Tyra Banks’ lawsuit claims Netflix used selective editing in ‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model’ to create a false and misleading narrative.Jen Lowery / MEGA
Banks’ lawsuit alleges only about 16 minutes of the three-and-a-half-hour interview she did for Reality Check were used in order to present a “defamatory” narrative that was “unrelated to what she actually expressed.”
The suit also alleges the series used “selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation” of footage to create a false and misleading impression, including “that Ms. Banks knowingly allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted on her show.”
That contestant, Shandi Sullivan, who appeared on Cycle 2 of ANTM, was on a cast trip with other models to Milan, where they were filmed drinking wine with local men.
In the Netflix docuseries, Sullivan said she was blackout drunk when the crew filmed her in bed with an Italian male model.
Banks Blasts ‘Misleading’ Documentary Edit
Shandi Sullivan alleged in ‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model’ an incident shown on ‘ANTM’ was actually a sexual assault.AB1 / WENN.com / MEGA
The event was framed on ANTM as an infidelity, but Sullivan alleged in Reality Check the incident was actually a sexual assault.
When asked about the controversial encounter in the docuseries, Banks began to glance upward, then said, “Um,” before the screen cut to black, an editing decision the suit claims “make[s] it appear that Ms. Banks knew she was being asked about a sexual assault and was intentionally trying to evade the topic.”
But as RadarOnline.comreaders know, Banks, who served as producer, host and a judge on ANTM, has long had a reputation as “the Queen of Mean.” In fact, insiders said ANTM was canceled in 2018 after rumors of her abusive behavior began circulating.
Reality Star’s Reputation Takes Hit
Insiders claimed ‘ANTM’ was canceled in 2018 after rumors of Banks’ abusive behavior began circulating.Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / MEGA
She’s since struggled to make a comeback, especially after a disastrous tenure as host of Dancing With the Stars, during which reports emerged that she was a bullying diva behind the scenes.
“The producers – and the fans – hated her,” an insider said.
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