ANTM Contestants Are Roasting Tyra Banks for Her Netflix Legal Battle, Calling the Claims of Selective Editing a Taste of Her Own Medicine
Peotic justice.
Tyra Banks is suing Netflix and the filmmakers behind Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, and former contestants are laughing in her face. Angelea Preston, who competed on ANTM cycles 14 and 17, said that Banks’ legal battle over “selective editing” is “a taste of her own medicine.” Adrianne Curry, the show’s first winner, didn’t hold back either, posting a blunt reaction to the news on Instagram.
Banks filed a complaint against Netflix, directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan, and production company EverWonder Studio, alleging they created a “false narrative” by “selective editing, deliberate omission, and surgical manipulation of continuous footage.” She claims the docuseries damaged her reputation by misrepresenting her words and actions. But Preston and Curry see irony in her complaints, given the long history of ANTM contestants accusing the show of the same thing.
Preston, who says she was stripped of her ANTM cycle 17 win after producers discovered her past sex work, didn’t mince words. “Now you know how we feel,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s kind of like a taste of your own medicine, in a way.” She’s not the only one who thinks Banks is getting a dose of karma. Curry said, “I read that Tyra Banks is suing Netflix because she didn’t like being edited. B***h! For real girl?”
Preston’s frustration runs deep
Preston claims she won cycle 17 in Greece, only for producers to reshoot the finale in the U.S. and crown Lisa D’Amato instead. All footage of Preston’s original victory was allegedly scrapped. “Can I see the footage? Can I see it?” she asked, echoing Banks’ demand for unedited material from the docuseries.
She added, “Tyra, you want Netflix to release the footage? Can you release the footage of me winning? If you win or settle with Netflix, can you give me my $100,000? You’ve got it now, because you’re a millionaire. Also, can I finally get my money? Because I have credit card debt, and I’m a single mother out here raising a little Black boy. Girl! Times are hard out here.”
Banks’ lawsuit claims she provided over three hours of interview footage for the docuseries, but only 16 minutes made it into the final cut. Her attorneys argue those 16 minutes were “stripped of context and reassembled to support a false and defamatory narrative.”
The complaint specifically calls out how the series handled cycle 2 contestant Shandi Sullivan’s story. Sullivan had said that she had sex with a local man in Milan, which the original ANTM framed as a scandal. Reality Check presented it as an assault, and Banks’ team says the docuseries misrepresented her reaction to the incident.
Banks’ attorneys claim she had no idea Sullivan considered the encounter nonconsensual and that the filmmakers edited her response to make it seem like she didn’t remember the story. The complaint alleges Banks actually said, “I do remember her story,” but that line was cut.
The lawsuit also accuses the filmmakers of rearranging footage to make it look like Banks initiated a conversation about cheating to manipulate Sullivan into confessing on air. According to the complaint, Sullivan brought up infidelity first, and Banks simply responded.
The legal battle also touches on Banks’ relationship with Miss J. Alexander
The complaint claims the docuseries included footage of Alexander discussing Banks not visiting him in the hospital after his stroke, but Banks says she wasn’t told about that segment. Her team argues she attempted to contact Alexander multiple times after his health scare, including as recently as Christmas 2025. The lawsuit also alleges Netflix used Banks’ likeness to promote the Reality Check soundtrack without her consent, which she’s seeking damages for.
Preston, now a news producer and journalist, says the reason so many contestants have spoken out is because they were left to “figure it the f— out” after the show ended. “We had no help,” she said. “After your final episode airs, you’re out there on your own.”
She points to RuPaul’s Drag Race as an example of how ANTM could have treated its alumni. “I see what RuPaul has done for the queens on that show. They go on tours, they are out here, she’s used them in her movie. These queens are working. That should’ve been us with the show.”
The fashion industry’s so-called “ANTM stigma” didn’t help either
Many contestants have said high-end fashion houses and commercial clients avoided working with them because they were associated with reality TV. Preston’s 2014 lawsuit against ANTM for $3 million was later dropped, but her bitterness remains. “A lot of doors were closed in our faces because we participated,” she said.
Banks’ lawsuit is seeking damages and an injunction to stop Netflix from using her likeness on the soundtrack album cover. Her attorneys argue the filmmakers breached their contract by violating a “no-defamation clause” and a “no-word-replacement clause.” The complaint states Banks agreed to participate in the docuseries under the condition that her material wouldn’t be used to defame her or alter the meaning of her words.
It’s a messy situation, and former contestants aren’t showing much sympathy. For now, Banks’ legal team hasn’t responded to EW’s request for comment on Preston and Curry’s reactions. Netflix and EverWonder have also stayed silent.
The irony isn’t lost on anyone. America’s Next Top Model built its reputation on dramatic edits, emotional confessionals, and carefully crafted storylines. Now, Banks is learning what it’s like to be on the other side of the editing bay. Whether her lawsuit will change anything remains to be seen, but for former contestants like Preston and Curry, it’s hard not to see this as poetic justice.
(Featured image: Netflix)
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