Netflix has asked a federal court to throw out Tyra Banks’ defamation lawsuit over her portrayal in “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” arguing the longtime host is contesting ordinary editorial choices rather than pointing to anything factually false.
The streamer filed its motion to dismiss Friday, paired with an anti-SLAPP motion aimed at ending the case before it reaches discovery. A hearing has been set for October 30. Netflix’s attorneys at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher argued that Banks, who created, hosted and executive produced 24 seasons of “America’s Next Top Model” between 2003 and 2018, made the same sorts of decisions about what footage to include and omit that she now objects to in the documentary.
Banks sued Netflix and directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan in June, alleging the three-part series manipulated her interview to suggest she knowingly let a contestant’s sexual assault allegation go unaddressed and had no memory of it when asked on camera. The claim centers on Shandi Sullivan, who said during the show’s second season that she was assaulted.
Banks says she sat for roughly three and a half hours of interviews, of which the filmmakers used about 16 minutes, and that the edited version omitted context showing she remembered Sullivan’s account. She is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages, including for harm she says the series caused her ice cream brand, Smize & Dream.
Netflix’s filing frames the dispute differently, stating that Banks understood editorial discretion from her own years running the show and that turning “that editorial lens back on ANTM and Banks” does not amount to defamation. A company spokesperson said the filmmakers “thoroughly interviewed the people behind America’s Next Top Model” and fairly presented every participant’s perspective, adding that Netflix will continue to defend the series.
Banks’ attorneys, Tom Clare and Clare Locke, countered that the case raises a basic question about whether viewers can trust a program presented as factual. Court records show Banks did not limit which topics the interviewer could raise during her sit-down, and Netflix contends she agreed to standard participant terms before filming began.
