Tyra Banks’ legal battle with Netflix is taking another turn as her team points to side-by-side videos that they say show how footage was rearranged in the America’s Next Top Model docuseries. In a new filing, Banks is using the comparisons to oppose Netflix’s effort to dismiss her defamation lawsuit, arguing that the editing changed the meaning of her words.
Tyra Banks’ legal team releases side-by-side videos it says show Netflix rearranged footage and changed the meaning of her words
One of the videos focuses on former contestant Shandi Sullivan and her account of an alleged sexual assault. In the documentary, someone asks Banks, “You remember the story with Shandi?”
The first episode then cuts away after Banks says, “Um.” Banks argues that the edit makes it appear as though she could not say whether she remembered the alleged incident.
However, Banks’ team says footage from the second episode shows what happened next. Banks nodded and said, “Um … I do remember her story.” Her attorneys emphasized the difference, stating, “The nod was not cut off. It was cut out.”
A second comparison video focuses on Banks’ 2004 coffee conversation with Shandi. Banks claims the documentary rearranged the footage to make it appear that she introduced the subject of cheating after producers were “in her ear.” She says the original footage instead shows Shandi asking whether Banks had ever cheated or been cheated on.
According to TMZ, Banks claims the reordered footage created the impression that she prompted Shandi to admit to cheating on camera. She maintains that her lawsuit does not concern getting more screen time or receiving a more favorable edit. Instead, she says the editing allegedly altered the meaning of what she said.
Netflix has denied wrongdoing and maintains that the filmmakers fairly presented Banks’ perspective. Meanwhile, a hearing on Netflix’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit is scheduled for October 30.
