Tyra Banks, who was the host and an executive producer of America’s Next Top Model, is one of the people in focus in the Netflix docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model. The docuseries followed the behind-the-scenes of America’s Next Top Model, which was an extremely popular show of its time but is heavily criticised for its treatment of models, among other incidents.
On Saturday, June 13, 2026, Tyra Banks filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix claiming that only a small part of her interview with Netflix was included in the documentary. In the lawsuit, she also alleges that by not telling her full story, Netflix has heavily manipulated and painted a false and damaging picture of her. Here’s a complete breakdown of the Tyra Banks lawsuit.
Tyra Banks Netflix lawsuit explained in detail
According to PEOPLE, the lawsuit filed by Tyra Banks on June 13, 2026, claims that Banks sat down for a three-and-a-half-hour interview because she wanted to have a
“candid conversation about the show’s legacy—its successes and its shortcomings.”
The lawsuit emphasizes that Banks took accountability for her past actions on the show but alleges that Netflix only used 16 minutes of her interview. Thus, most of the footage which included her taking accountability allegedly never made into the documentary. The lawsuit also claims that the clips were
“stripped of context and reassembled to support a false and defamatory narrative unrelated to what she actually expressed.”
Moreover, the lawsuit heavily focuses on how the docuseries addressed an incident which happened during Cycle 2 of America’s Next Top Model, involving contestant Shandi Sullivan in Italy. Shandi Sullivan stated in the docuseries that she was blacked out at the time and considers what happened to her as sexual assault rather than a cheating scandal as the original show presented it as.
The docuseries conveyed that Banks did not remember Shandi’s assault. However, Banks’ lawsuit now claims that she was entirely unaware that Sullivan had now stated the incident as sexual assault. It argues that there is footage of Banks admitting she remembers the incident, but Netflix used deceptive editing to make it look like Banks forgot about a serious assault.
The docuseries also established that Tyra Banks used to ignore the misconduct of men on the original show’s set. The lawsuit challenges that narrative by pointing to a specific instance of the show where a crew member had reported inappropriate sexual conduct by a main cast member.
According to the lawsuit, Banks had immediately brought the issue to other executives and the network, resulting in production being paused so the entire cast and crew could undergo sexual harassment training.
Another thing the docuseries implies is that Tyra Banks ignored her former co-star, Miss J. Alexander, after he suffered a stroke in 2022. Banks’ lawsuit states that the producers of the docuseries never gave her a chance to respond to this claim. Had she been asked, the lawsuit states that Banks would have explained that she was living in Australia for two and a half years at the time.
The lawsuit also claims that she had tried hard to contact him, eventually connected with his family, and that she and Miss J. had been communicating regularly via texts, photos, and voice notes for three years.
Given how the docuseries has allegedly twisted the narrative, Tyra Banks states through the lawsuit that she has suffered
“significant mental anguish”
and financial harm, including the loss of potential business opportunities. She is seeking a jury trial to determine the appropriate amount of money she should be paid in damages.
Stay tuned for further updates.
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Edited by Riddhee