How Tyra Banks Can Win Lawsuit Against Netflix

Tyra Banks broke the internet last weekend when it was revealed that she was suing Netflix for defamation after the streaming giant released a documentary about the downfall of her reality TV show, “America’s Next Top Model.” In the documentary, in which Banks participated, the Victoria’s Secret supermodel talks about some of the show’s biggest scandals and takes responsibility for sometimes going “too far.” However, in her bombshell lawsuit against Netflix, Banks is accusing the streamer of deliberately manufacturing a false narrative by editing her interviews to portray her in a negative light.

Rachel Bennett, a certified family law specialist, spoke with Us Weekly about Banks’ shocking lawsuit and revealed whether the superstar model has any grounds to sue Netflix for defamation.

“It’s actually a really interesting claim, because generally documentary producers enjoy broad creative agency over how to edit and how to put together footage, and that’s all under the First Amendment,” said Bennett.

She went on to say that documentary creators typically have the “creative freedom” to edit interviews in ways that may portray them negatively, so long as the edit “is not completely false.”

“Where it crosses a line into defamation is where something is so heavily edited that it completely manufactures facts that are just objectively not true,” she said.

Tyra Banks Sues Netflix, Claims The Streamer Purposely Edited Her Interview To Portray Her In A Bad Light

Banks filed her lawsuit against Netflix on Saturday, June 13, claiming that her appearance in Netflix’s “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” was defamatory and edited to paint her in a negative light.

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

In her lawsuit, Banks accuses Netflix of using only 16 minutes of her three-hour interview in the docuseries, leaving critical bits of information on the cutting-room floor to shape a narrative that would elicit a negative response.

“Viewers of a documentary do not expect manufactured drama or constructed narratives. They expect facts. Because they were promised a documentary, that is exactly how viewers interacted with the Netflix Series,” the lawsuit continues.

Tyra Banks Says She Went ‘Too Far’ In Netflix Documentary About Modeling Competition Show

The “America’s Next Top Model” documentary was released in February 2026, and in the three-part series, Banks opens up about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

She also revisited some of the modeling competition show’s most controversial moments, including the race-swap challenge, the homeless photoshoot, and the devastating makeovers.

“I knew I went too far. It was very, very intense, but you guys were demanding it, so we kept pushing it, more and more and more,” she said.

Who Was Part Of The ‘ANTM’ Docuseries?

Banks wasn’t the only person from “America’s Next Top Model” involved in the series. Also featured were former judges Miss J. Alexander, Jay Manuel, and photographer Nigel Barker. Executive producer Ken Mok was also part of the series, as well as past contestants Dani Evans, Shandi Sullivan, Shannon Stewart, Ebony Haith, Keenyah Hill, and Whitney Thompson, according to Netflix’s Tudum.

Banks Addressed The Show’s Controversies In February 2025

The Netflix docuseries wasn’t the first time Banks publicly addressed her shortcomings as they relate to “America’s Next Top Model.” In February 2025, the mother of one spoke at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards and shared an emotional statement about the challenges she faced while working to create positive change in the fashion industry.

“Over 20 years ago I created a show called ‘America’s Next Top Model,’” she said. “And you guys have no idea how hard we fought to bring the diversity to that television show at a time when it didn’t exist; to show different beauties at a time when the world was like, ‘What? You casting that?’ A time when people in the fashion industry were telling me, ‘You putting the girls from the hood on your show?’”

Banks explained that she fought for women from diverse backgrounds and with different body types to be featured on the series, calling it a “struggle” she eventually overcame. “Did we get it right? Hell no. I said some dumb s–t,” she continued. “But I refuse to have my legacy be about some stuff linked together on the Internet when there were 24 cycles of changing the world. And I am so excited that I, and so many of us, have opened that door for others to follow.”