Tyra Banks sues Netflix over ‘America’s Next Top Model’ doc - BERITAJA

Tyra Banks revenge a defamation suit against Netflix connected Saturday, accusing the streaming elephantine of manipulating her into participating successful a bombshell documentary about her erstwhile reality show “America’s Next Top Model.”

Netflix’s “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” chronicles some the show’s historical successes and its controversies, including an early contestant claiming she was sexually assaulted connected camera, different undergoing cosmetic room to stay successful the competition, and a situation that required contestants to deterioration blackface.

Banks participated successful the three-part documentary, which drew important attraction for examining the exploitative quality of early reality television. She now alleges that her confessionals were “stripped of discourse and reassembled to support a mendacious and defamatory communicative unrelated to what she really expressed.”

“The mendacious communicative the producers constructed — done selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage — included that Ms. Banks knowingly allowed a contestant to beryllium sexually assaulted connected her show, exploited that contestant’s trauma for ratings, and past could not moreover retrieve it erstwhile asked,” the suit states. “That communicative about Ms. Banks is simply a complete fabrication — 1 that Netflix streamed to a world assemblage of millions.”

Netflix declined to comment.

Banks says she agreed to participate because she believed viewers deserved “candid speech about the show’s bequest — its successes and its shortcomings.” The suit notes that Netflix aired only 16 minutes of a 3 1/2-hour question and reply successful which she placed nary restrictions connected the topics she could beryllium asked about.

The suit accuses Netflix producers of selectively editing portions of Banks’ question and reply to make it look for illustration she was responding to questions about a erstwhile contestant’s intersexual battle — “something Ms. Banks had ne'er heard earlier and was not told during her interview.” Contestant Shandi Sullivan claimed successful the documentary that she was assaulted during filming of the show’s 2nd season.

“Defendants edited the Netflix Series to make it look that Ms. Banks knew she was being asked about a intersexual battle and was intentionally trying to evade the topic,” the suit states. “Ms. Banks respects Ms. Sullivan’s position and the courageousness it takes for Ms. Sullivan and others to speak up.”

“Ms. Banks wishes personification progressive pinch the Netflix Series would person told her what Ms. Sullivan shared pinch them,” the suit continues. “But they deliberately chose not to.”

Sullivan did not instantly return a petition for comment.

Banks is seeking damages for “loss of early business opportunities, nonaccomplishment of business income, different compounding losses arsenic will beryllium shown astatine trial.” No circumstantial monetary magnitude was listed.

The suit alleges the documentary has caused “significant harm and harm to the individual marque she has worked for decades to build and support passim the world,” adding that online ratings for her Sydney-based crystal pick business, SMiZE & DREAM, person “plummeted” since the documentary aired.

“America’s Next Top Model” premiered successful 2003 and ran for 24 seasons crossed UPN, The CW and VH1 earlier ending successful 2018. In the documentary, Banks expressed liking successful producing a 25th play of the show, though it remains unclear whether different loop of the bid will materialize.

“Every different speech about ANTM’s bequest — including the candid reflection Ms. Banks came prepared to person — is now drowned retired by an accusation she was ne'er fixed the chance to answer,” the suit states.