Netflix Moves to Dismiss Tyra Banks' Defamation Suit Over 'America's Next Top Model' Docuseries
Netflix has filed a motion to dismiss Tyra Banks' defamation lawsuit over the docuseries Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, arguing that Banks is objecting to routine editorial decisions rather than anything legally actionable (Variety, 2026).
The motion, dated 14 August 2026, asks the court to strike Banks' complaint in full. Banks sued Netflix and the docuseries' directors, Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan, on 13 June 2026 (NBC News, 2026). She accused them of falsely portraying her as insensitive to a contestant who said she was a victim of sexual assault.
The contestant is Shandi Sullivan, who alleged she was sexually assaulted during the second season of America's Next Top Model while filming in Milan. Banks claims the docuseries deceptively edited a three-hour interview she sat for — of which roughly 16 minutes made the final cut — to make it appear she had forgotten about Sullivan's story.
Netflix's lawyers counter that the full quote, "I do remember her story," appears at the start of the docuseries' second episode. They also noted that Banks signed a standard waiver giving up creative control over the project, meaning the producers had the right to shape the footage as they saw fit.
A Netflix spokesperson said the company stands behind the docuseries and its directors and will continue to vigorously defend it.
Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model is a three-episode series released in February 2026. It examines the legacy of America's Next Top Model, the reality competition Banks created and hosted, which ran for 24 seasons between 2003 and 2018.
The dispute centres on a question documentary filmmakers and their subjects have clashed over for decades: where does editing end and defamation begin? Banks says she was made to look callous. Netflix says she gave an answer on camera, that answer was included in the series, and she waived her right to control how it was used.
For a general audience, the stakes are straightforward. If the court grants the motion, Banks' case ends before it reaches discovery — the pre-trial phase where internal emails, unused footage and production notes could be made public. If the court allows the suit to proceed, those materials could surface, and the directors would have to defend their editing choices under oath.
No hearing date has been publicly announced.
