Model Tyra Banks has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the streaming platform of defamation because her lengthy interview for a documentary series earlier this year was pared down in a way that advanced a false narrative.
Banks, 52, filed the lawsuit on Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, The New York Times reported. The complaint alleges that the docuseries, “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” which premiered in February, defamed her by implication.
The lawsuit also claims breach of contract and false endorsement, according to the newspaper. The production company EverWonder Studio is also named as a defendant, the Times reported.
Other defendants include the series’ directors, Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy, according to The Associated Press. Banks is also seeking an injunction barring the use of her image for the docuseries’ soundtrack, which was released as an album, the news organization reported.
Banks, who claimed in the lawsuit that she was interviewed for 3 1/2 hours for the series, said that only 16 minutes were used, People reported.
The complaint alleges that the clips were “stripped of context and reassembled to support a false and defamatory narrative unrelated to what (Banks) actually expressed.
Banks claimed she answered questions about the show’s history, including criticisms of her own decisions that she said she would have approached differently now, the Times reported.
“The accountability Ms. Banks took ended up on the cutting room floor,” the lawsuit stated.
Banks hosted “America’s Next Top Model” for the first 22 cycles beginning in 2003, People reported.
In recent years, the reality show has been criticized for alleged body shaming, manipulation of contestants and problems during photoshoots, The Associated Press reported.
Banks has addressed those criticisms in the past, admitting to “the insensitivity of past ANTM moments” and “some really off choices.”
Representatives for Netflix, the show’s directors, EverWonder Studio and Banks have not responded to requests for comment, the Times reported.