Tyra Banks’ lawsuit over Netflix’s Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model has drawn pointed reactions from two former America’s Next Top Model contestants who say the editing complaint sounds familiar.
Adrianne Curry, who won the first cycle of ANTM, reacted after Banks sued Netflix and the filmmakers behind the three-part docuseries. Angelea Preston, who appeared on cycles 14 and 17, also responded and connected Banks’ complaint to long-running criticism from former contestants about how the reality competition shaped their stories.
Banks’ lawsuit alleges that the docuseries misrepresented her through selective editing, using only a small portion of a lengthy interview and leaving out comments where she says she took accountability for controversial moments from the show’s past.
The former contestants’ reactions put the lawsuit in a sharper place: Banks is now challenging the same kind of edited reality-TV narrative that some ANTM alumni have criticized for years.
Banks Says the Docuseries Misrepresented Her
Banks filed a lawsuit against Netflix, EverWonder Studio and directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan over her portrayal in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model. People reported that the complaint accuses the docuseries of defamation, false endorsement and breach of contract.
According to People, Banks says she sat for a roughly three-and-a-half-hour interview, but only about 16 minutes appeared in the final series. Her complaint alleges that her remarks were “stripped of context” and assembled into a false narrative about her role in the show’s most controversial moments.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Banks’ complaint says portions of her interview in which she accepted responsibility or reflected on decisions she would handle differently today were left out of the finished project.
The lawsuit also focuses on how the series handled former contestant Shandi Sullivan’s comments about a 2004 incident during filming. Banks alleges that the docuseries falsely suggested she ignored or exploited Sullivan’s account, while the filing says Banks was not told before her interview that Sullivan now characterized the incident as sexual assault.
Adrianne Curry Reacted With Sarcasm
View this post on Instagram
Curry responded after news of the lawsuit spread, saying in a social media video that Banks was suing because she did not like being edited. Entertainment Weekly reported that Curry laughed at the situation and said, “Welcome to the party, pal.”
Her reaction was pointed because former ANTM contestants have often criticized how reality-TV editing shaped their public images. Curry did not participate in the Netflix docuseries, but she has repeatedly commented on Banks and the renewed discussion around the show’s legacy.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Curry called the situation “irony of all ironies” and said many former contestants know what it feels like to see a condensed, producer-controlled version of themselves reach the public.
Angelea Preston Said Banks Now Knows “How We Feel”
View this post on Instagram
Preston told Entertainment Weekly that Banks’ complaint about selective editing sounded familiar. “Now she knows how we feel,” Preston told the outlet.
Preston has previously alleged that she won America’s Next Top Model: All-Stars, cycle 17, before the show stripped her title and aired a different ending after information about her past sex work surfaced. Her claims about what happened remain allegations, and the show’s representatives have not publicly confirmed her version.
Preston told Entertainment Weekly that she wants Banks to release alleged footage of her being crowned the cycle 17 winner. Her response tied the Netflix lawsuit to a dispute she has carried for years over what audiences saw and what she says happened before the final edit.
Banks’ lawsuit argues that Netflix and the filmmakers controlled her image through selective editing; Preston and Curry say contestants have long made similar complaints about ANTM itself.
The Lawsuit Reopens an Old Reality TV Debate
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model revisits the long-running competition series as both a pop-culture phenomenon and a show that has faced years of criticism from former contestants. Banks’ lawsuit argues that the Netflix series did not fairly represent her interview or her response to difficult topics from the show’s past.
Netflix has declined to comment on the lawsuit, according to Business Insider. The streamer and filmmakers had not yet filed a response in court at the time of that report.