The supermodel claimed the hit docuseries had created a \u2018false narrative\u2019 about her, and that only 16 minutes of the three hour interview she provided the filmmakers was ultimately used<\/p>\n
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Netflix has fired back at the supermodel Tyra Banks, who sued the streamer for defamation in June over her portrayal in a documentary series.<\/p>\n
Banks\u2019s lawsuit against Netflix and filmmakers Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan claimed that the three-part doc Reality Check: Inside America\u2019s Next Top Model was edited to manufacture a false and defamatory portrayal of her role as host, judge and executive producer on the long-running reality show.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe false narrative the producers constructed \u2013 through selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage \u2013 included that Ms Banks knowingly allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted on her show, exploited that contestant\u2019s trauma for ratings, and then could not even remember it when asked,\u201d the lawsuit alleged.<\/p>\n
Banks requested a jury trial to determine damages for \u201closs of future business opportunities, loss of business income [and] other compounding losses,\u201d while alleging that the docuseries has led to reputational damage to her businesses, specifically her ice cream brand Smize & Dream.<\/p>\n
Now Netflix has attempted to have the lawsuit tossed out, vigorously defending the programme and arguing in a 28-page motion that Banks\u2019s claims have no merit.<\/p>\n
\u201cBanks understands editorial discretion,\u201d the filing states. \u201cShe created, hosted, and executive produced 24 seasons of ANTM, making the same kinds of editorial decisions she now attacks \u2013 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Banks\u2019s suit specifically argued that Reality Check made it seem as if she had no memory of events on America\u2019s Next Top Model involving the aspiring model Shandi Sullivan, who alleged in Reality Check that she had been assaulted during filming of the show\u2019s second season.<\/p>\n
Netflix, however, have argued that the very end of Reality Check\u2019s first episode depicts Banks saying \u201cum\u201d when asked whether she remembered Sullivan, and that her full answer (\u201cI do remember her story\u201d) was included in the opening of episode two.<\/p>\n
\u201cA documentary expressly showing Banks remembering does not imply that she forgot,\u201d the filing states.<\/p>\n
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Banks said that she agreed to participate in the project because she wanted to have an honest discussion about long-standing criticisms of the show, including its allegedly exploitative nature as one of the first reality shows on TV.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit states that after Banks sat for a three-and-half-hour interview, only 16 minutes of her confessional was used and it was \u201cstripped of context and reassembled to support a false and defamatory narrative unrelated to what she actually expressed\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTyra Banks participated in the Netflix documentary series America\u2019s Next Top Model because she believed viewers deserved a candid conversation about the show\u2019s legacy \u2013 its successes and its shortcomings,\u201d the lawsuit read. \u201cThere are aspects of the show for which Ms Banks takes accountability and she wanted ANTM viewers to hear that from her directly.\u201d<\/p>\n