Netflix hit back at Tyra Banks’ lawsuit Friday, filing a motion to dismiss that argued the supermodel’s issues with the streamer’s “America’s Next Top Model” docuseries did not amount to defamation.
Banks sued Netflix and “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan for defamation back in June, alleging that she was falsely depicted as insensitive toward an “ANTM” contestant. Banks claimed she gave a three-hour interview for the series in question, but producers chose only to use around 16 minutes of her answers.
Netflix’s legal team pushed back on this narrative, noting in their motion to strike that Banks’ issues with “Reality Check” did not amount to defamation and that the reality TV host made “the same kinds of editorial decisions” on her show.
“Banks understands editorial discretion,” the Friday filing noted. “She created, hosted and executive produced 24 seasons of ‘ANTM,’ making the same kinds of editorial decisions she now attacks — what footage to include, what to omit and how to present competing narratives. The Documentary simply turned that editorial lens back on ‘ANTM’ and Banks. Her disagreement with the resulting portrayal does not make it defamatory.”
On “Reality Check,” Banks was asked if she remembered contestant Shandi Sullivan, prompting the media figure to look up at the ceiling and say, “Um.” The episode then cut to credits. Banks alleged this edit was meant to make it seem as though she did not remember a contestant who later claimed she was assaulted during the show’s second season.
However, Netflix’s lawyers defended that her answer of “I do remember her story” was included at the start of Episode 2, adding, “A documentary expressly showing Banks remembering does not imply that she forgot.”
Netflix’s filing also defended that Banks signed a waiver, which gave up creative control of the series that highlighted problematic parts of “ANTM,” as well as Banks.
Netflix has openly stood by the series, praising Sivan and Loushy as “respected documentarians who thoroughly interviewed the people behind ‘America’s Next Top Model’” in a statement to media.
“Tyra Banks was given the opportunity to speak openly about her experience and the creators fairly presented her perspective alongside those of every other participant shown in this documentary,” the streamer added Friday night. “We stand behind ‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model’ and will continue to vigorously defend it.”
In response to Netflix’s motion, Banks’ legal team, Tom Clare and Clare Locke, told TheWrap, “Tyra’s lawsuit raises a simple question: can viewers trust that a documentary presented as fact fairly represents what happened and what people actually said?”
“Netflix’s response only underscores the issue,” they continued. “It points to the editing of reality television to defend the editing of this documentary. No one disputes that documentaries are edited. The question is whether those edits materially distorted the truth.”
As they went on, they defended that the suit was “not about Tyra being ‘dissatisfied’ with an edit, nor is it about wanting creative control. It is about whether viewers were given an accurate representation of her words and the facts.”
“Netflix has Tyra’s complete, unedited interview. If Netflix stands behind the accuracy of its documentary, it should release that interview in full and let viewers judge for themselves,” they countered. “Let the public compare what Tyra actually said with what Netflix chose to show. The facts are the facts and, here, the facts are recorded and being hidden by Netflix.”
