Model and television personality Tyra Banks is taking legal action against Netflix, the documentary directors Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy, and production company EverWonder Studio. The lawsuit, filed Saturday in Los Angeles federal court, alleges that Banks was defamed through the use of "selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage" in the streaming platform's docuseries about the reality competition show she created and hosted.
According to the complaint, the filmmakers constructed a false narrative suggesting Banks knowingly permitted a contestant to experience sexual assault, exploited the incident for ratings, and later feigned memory loss when questioned during interviews. Banks' legal team contends she was never informed about the assault during the actual interview and was deliberately presented as evading discussion of the topic through careful video manipulation.
Banks' lawyers highlighted that she had minimal opportunity to review the finished product — just one day before its February 16 release. The lawsuit states she was not contacted for fact-checking following her interviews and received no chance to respond to allegations from other show participants. The complaint notes that fellow judges who consulted on the project included individuals with prior grievances against Banks, which she would have rejected had she known of their involvement.
The 24-season run of the show, which debuted in 2003, has faced intense scrutiny in recent years regarding accusations of body shaming, contestant manipulation, and insensitive photoshoots. Banks has previously acknowledged these past missteps. However, her legal team argues that the documentary omitted substantial footage demonstrating her willingness to address criticisms — material that never reached viewers.
Banks is seeking monetary damages and an injunction preventing the use of her image in connection with the docuseries' released soundtrack album. After Netflix and EverWonder rejected her March request for access to complete interview footage, Banks' legal team states that subsequent public reaction has been severely damaging, including online review bombing of her ice cream shop, SMiZE & DREAM, located in Sydney, Australia.
