LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tyra Banks has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix and the directors of its docuseries “Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model,” alleging that the producers stripped down hours of interview footage to construct a false narrative.
In the lawsuit filed Saturday in Los Angeles federal court, the model who created and hosted “America's Next Top Model” said she was interviewed for 3 ½ hours, during which she took responsibility for some of the show's controversial decisions. Those interviews were edited down to 16 minutes and manipulated “to support a false and defamatory narrative unrelated to what she actually expressed,” the lawsuit said.
“The accountability Ms. Banks took ended up on the cutting room floor. It was there, but viewers were never given the opportunity to see it,” her lawyers wrote.
Banks is seeking damages in her lawsuit against Netflix, the directors Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy and EverWonder Studio. She’s also seeking an injunction barring the use of her image in connection with the docuseries’ soundtrack, released as an album.
Emails seeking comments were sent Sunday to the defendants’ representatives.
“America's Next Top Model” launched in 2003 and ran for 24 seasons. In recent years, the reality competition series has undergone a critical reevaluation over accusations of body shaming, manipulation of contestants and problematic photoshoots. Banks has previously addressed those criticisms, acknowledging “the insensitivity of past ANTM moments” and “some really off choices.”
The lawsuit contends that the producers of the Netflix docuseries used “selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage” to formulate a narrative that Banks allowed a contestant to be sexually assaulted on the show, used the contestant's trauma to drum up ratings and then couldn't remember it when asked during the interviews.
“Defendants edited the Netflix Series to make it appear that Ms. Banks knew she was being asked about a sexual assault and was intentionally trying to evade the topic,” the lawsuit stated, contending that Banks hadn't been told — or asked — about the assault during the interview.
Banks' lawyers wrote that she wasn't permitted to review the docuseries until a day before its Feb. 16 release. According to the lawsuit, she had not been contacted for fact-checking after her interviews, and was not given an opportunity to respond to accusations from other participants. Other judges from the show, including one her lawyers contend holds a grudge against Banks, consulted on the docuseries.
“Had Ms. Banks known these individuals were so deeply involved in the formulation of the Netflix Series, also serving as consultants shaping the editorial direction, and that she had been excluded from such a role, it would have raised a red flag,” the lawsuit read. “She would have known she was being set up. She would not have participated.”
Banks' lawyers reached out to Netflix in March to request access to the full footage of her interviews. Netflix and EverWonder denied that request, according to the lawsuit. Since the docuseries' release, public reaction has been “swift, harsh, and directed squarely at Ms. Banks” — even SMiZE & DREAM, her ice cream shop in Sydney, Australia, has been subject to review bombing on Google, the lawsuit read.
The Associated Press sent an email seeking further detail from Banks’ lawyers and representatives on Sunday.
“Every other conversation about ANTM’s legacy — including the candid reflection Ms. Banks came prepared to have — is now drowned out by an accusation she was never given the chance to answer,” her lawyers wrote. “This lawsuit is that answer — particularly after her efforts to resolve the matter directly with Netflix and the producers were refused.”
FILE - Tyra Banks arrives at an event, April 24, 2025, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — All those home games at hitter-friendly Coors Field, and the Colorado Rockies never rang up the scoreboard the way they did Sunday in steamy Las Vegas.
If this is what big league baseball looks like in Sin City, pitchers might run for cover in a couple of years under every craps table in town.
Willi Castro had seven RBIs, Hunter Goodman got a career-high five hits and the Rockies set a franchise record for runs with a 23-9 victory over the Athletics on a 101-degree afternoon at Las Vegas Ballpark.
“You’ve just got to make contact and the ball’s gonna go,” Goodman said.
Castro and Goodman each hit two of Colorado’s six homers. Troy Johnston and TJ Rumfield also went deep for the last-place Rockies (27-45), who ended a three-game losing streak.
Scheduled to move to Las Vegas full time in 2028, the A's got a taste of the city this week with a six-game homestand against Milwaukee and Colorado at the site of their top minor league affiliate.
The teams involved combined to score 102 runs in a stretch that began with a wild slugfest last Monday night, when the Brewers outlasted the Athletics 15-14 in a 12-inning game that featured 11 homers.
Colorado's lineup provided an exclamation point Sunday, but Goodman is going to reserve judgment about major league baseball on The Strip.
Because while the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators of the Pacific Coast League play outdoors, the A's are gearing up to move into a new $2 billion stadium under construction on the Las Vegas Strip. That building will be enclosed.
“I’ll be curious to see how it plays,” Goodman said. “I think time will tell. With it being indoors, I don’t know if it will play the same or not. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer has participated in plenty of games similar to Sunday’s series finale, especially at Triple-A Albuquerque.
“This is a very, very tough environment to play baseball,” he said. “As you saw, obviously the ball flies in the thin air, the heat and the sun. It’s just a hard place to play.”
Castro finished with four hits, including a grand slam off Scott Barlow in the eighth inning. Goodman drove in four runs and Kyle Karros also had four hits as the Rockies piled up 24 in all — one shy of the team mark established against Houston on Sept. 25, 2011.
Max Muncy and Tyler Soderstrom homered for the A’s (35-36), who had won four straight. Lawrence Butler got three hits and Zack Gelof extended his hitting streak to 18 games.
Tomoyuki Sugano (7-4) got the win despite giving up eight runs and nine hits in five innings. Eiberson Castellano tossed three scoreless innings to earn a save in his major league debut.
Athletics starter Jeffrey Springs (3-7) allowed eight runs — six earned — and seven hits in four innings.
Colorado scored six times in the fifth to build a 14-6 lead. Goodman homered to begin an outburst capped by Tyler Freeman’s run-scoring triple.
A’s right fielder Carlos Cortes moved to the mound in the eighth and was their most effective pitcher, yielding one run and three hits in the final 1 2/3 innings.
The Athletics went 4-2 on their Las Vegas homestand, winning a pair of three-game series. They return Monday to their regular temporary home in West Sacramento, California, for a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Athletics' TJ Rumfield reacts after hitting an RBI triple during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Colorado Rockies' Willi Castro (3), center, is greeted by teammates after hitting a grand slam during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Colorado Rockies' Troy Johnston reacts after hitting a two run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Colorado Rockies' Willi Castro (3) is greeted by teammates after hitting a grand slam during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Colorado Rockies' Kyle Karros (12) runs home to score on a sacrifice fly by Braxton Fulford (37) during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
