Netflix cites a signed release and anti-SLAPP laws as it defends the ‘Reality Check’ doc and its explosive look at America’s Next Top Model scandals.
ByBernadette Giacomazzo
August 17, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Netflix is asking a court to toss Tyra Banks’ defamation lawsuit over the three-part docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, arguing she signed away rights to approve edits and released defamation claims after her interview.
- Banks says the series selectively edited her comments—especially around contestant Shandi Sullivan’s alleged sexual assault—to make it look like she forgot or ignored the incident, while Netflix counters that the documentary clearly shows her remembering and never claims she was present or covered anything up.
- The legal fight lands amid a broader reexamination of America’s Next Top Model, with former contestants and staff like Tiffany Richardson and Jay Manuel criticizing Banks and the show’s production, even as Banks plans a return with Cycle 25.
Netflix is pushing back against Tyra Banks’ claims that its America’s Next Top Model docuseries defamed her, asking a court to dismiss the model and television personality’s lawsuit and arguing that she agreed to give filmmakers control over how her interview would be edited.
According to court documents obtained by People, the streamer filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on August 14. Netflix and EverWonder Studio also filed an anti-SLAPP motion and said they intend to “vigorously defend” Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, the three-part documentary that premiered in February.
At the center of Netflix’s response is an agreement it says Banks signed after sitting for an extensive interview. According to the motion, Banks acknowledged that she had “no right to review or approve” the finished project and released certain claims related to its production, including defamation and false light.
Netflix characterized her objections as disagreements with “ordinary editorial decisions” rather than false statements.
Banks filed her lawsuit in June, alleging that filmmakers selectively edited her interview to construct a defamatory portrayal of her involvement in controversial events during America’s Next Top Model. She requested a jury trial and unspecified damages.
One of Banks’ central complaints involves Cycle 2 contestant Shandi Sullivan. Sullivan has described a sexual encounter filmed while contestants were in Italy as an alleged sexual assault.
Banks claims the Netflix series edited her interview in a manner that falsely suggested she did not remember Sullivan’s story and allowed viewers to believe she knowingly permitted Sullivan’s trauma to be exploited for television.
Netflix disputes that interpretation. “A documentary expressly showing Banks remembering does not imply that she forgot,” the company argued. It also maintains that the series never claims Banks was present during the incident, could have intervened or subsequently covered it up.
The lawsuit marks another development in the renewed examination of America’s Next Top Model, which has included criticism from former contestants and staff.
Tiffany Richardson recently accused Banks of bullying her during Cycle 4, while Banks acknowledged in Reality Check that she “went too far” during the infamous confrontation in which she told Richardson, “We were all rooting for you.”
Former creative director Jay Manuel also criticized Banks and the production in the documentary, alleging that story considerations sometimes influenced which contestant photos were selected for judging.
Former judge Kelly Cutrone subsequently defended Banks, saying she believed Banks “got done dirty” by the documentary and blasting Manuel over his criticism of his former boss.
Netflix is now standing firmly behind the filmmakers.
“Tyra Banks was given the opportunity to speak openly about her experience and the creators fairly presented her perspective alongside those of every other participant shown in this documentary,” a Netflix spokesperson told People.
The legal fight arrives as Banks is also preparing to revisit the franchise itself. Earlier this year, she confirmed plans for Cycle 25 of America’s Next Top Model, which would mark its first new installment since 2018.
