Netflix Challenges Tyra Banks' Defamation Lawsuit, Says She Approved Filmmakers' Editing Rights

Netflix has pushed back against Tyra Banks' defamation lawsuit, saying that the former America's Next Top Model host agreed that the filmmakers behind its docuseries could edit her interview without giving her final approval.

The streaming giant filed a motion to dismiss the case on 14 August, saying Banks' complaint is based on disagreement with editorial decisions and not statements that are legally defamatory.

According to reports, the supermodel sued Netflix, documentary directors Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy, and production companies involved with Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model in June.

Banks claims that the three-part series presented a distorted account of her role in controversial moments from America's Next Top Model, which she hosted from its premiere in 2003 through 2015, and in 2018. Court documents acquired by PEOPLE show that Netflix has filed a motion to dismiss the case on 14 August because her complaints were 'about ordinary editorial decisions.'

Netflix Points to Banks' Agreement

The latest court filing from Netflix focuses on the agreement Tyra Banks signed after taking part in the interview for the docuseries.

According to Netflix, the document authorised the filmmakers to edit Banks' recorded material, while also stating that she would not have the right to review or approve the completed documentary.

Netflix also argues that the agreement released certain claims connected to the production, including defamation and false-light allegations.

'After the interview, [Banks] signed an agreement granting the filmmakers the right to edit her interview footage, acknowledging she had 'no right to review or approve' the finished documentary, and releasing claims arising from it — including for defamation and false light,' the motion filed by the streamer read.

The company also says Banks' legal complaint effectively objects to how much of her interview was used, how her comments were arranged, and how her perspective was placed alongside statements from other participants.

'She now alleges the documentary...defames her — not because it says anything false about her, but because she wanted advance notice of what another interviewee would say, more of her interview included, and her perspective presented differently,' the motion read. Netflix has also filed an anti-SLAPP motion seeking to end the dispute at an early stage.

Banks Claims the Docuseries Misled Viewers

Banks' original lawsuit tells a different story. She says she gave the filmmakers roughly three and a half hours of interview material, but only about 16 minutes made it to the documentary.

Her lawyers say that important parts of her discussion were cut out, including material in which she addressed controversies connected to ANTM and accepted responsibility for some of its past decisions, per Variety.

'Tyra Banks participated in the Netflix documentary series about 'America's Next Top Model' because she believed viewers deserved a candid conversation about the show's legacy — its successes and its shortcomings,' the lawsuit read. 'There are aspects of the show for which Ms. Banks takes accountability and she wanted ANTM viewers to hear that from her directly.'

The dispute involves former contestant Shandi Sullivan and an incident shown during the documentary, and Banks alleges that the programme's editing made it appear as if she ignored a serious situation involving Sullivan and later failed to remember what happened.

Banks maintains that this portrayal was misleading and that the documentary removed context from her interview in a way that changed the meaning of her responses.

'The producers used what could be stripped of context and reassembled to support a false and defamatory narrative unrelated to what she actually expressed. The accountability Banks took ended up on the cutting room floor,' it added.