Tyra Banks is fighting to protect her legacy and set the record straight. She agreed to appear in the docuseries for a candid conversation about ANTM's successes AND shortcomings, only to have producers allegedly cherry-pick 16 minutes from a 3.5-hour interview to construct a false narrative that misrepresents her actual words.
Multiple former contestants aren't buying Banks' victim act. Brower and others see rank hypocrisy—a woman who built her brand on ruthless editing now crying foul when the tables turned. One insider notes former cast members have complained about defamation for years with zero acknowledgment, making Banks' sudden concern for editorial integrity hard to swallow.
Tyra Banks filed her defamation lawsuit against Netflix on June 13, 2026, targeting the docuseries 'Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model,' which premiered February 16. She claims producers used only 16 minutes from her three-and-a-half hour interview and deliberately omitted context to paint her as someone who allegedly ignored a contestant's sexual assault. Season 17 alum Angelea Preston notably filed a $3 million lawsuit against ANTM in 2014, later dropped.
Banks wanted the last word on her legacy—but the women she helped make famous are done letting her control their narratives. Brower's got popcorn ready, and honestly? So does everyone else.
Brittany Brower finished fourth place on cycle 4 of America's Next Top Model nearly two decades ago, but she's still got plenty to say about the woman who ran the show. In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly published in June 2026, the Florida-based mother of two delivered a scathing assessment of Tyra Banks' bombshell defamation lawsuit against Netflix—and she didn't waste a single syllable being diplomatic. "That's so rich that she's suing because she didn't like the way her edit came out," Brower told the publication.
"Talk about getting a taste of your own medicine. She thinks she could come off more lovable or whatever on the documentary when all these people on her show are unhappy, and it's no secret. People have been speaking out against her for a very long time." The former model didn't stop there, calling Banks' legal action "a joke" and pointing out that the supermodel has only herself to blame for how she's portrayed in the docuseries 'Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model,' which premiered on Netflix February 16.
Banks filed her lawsuit against Netflix on June 13, claiming producers weaponized selective editing to construct a "false and defamatory narrative" from just 16 minutes of her reported three-and-a-half hour interview. She alleges the docuseries implied she knowingly ignored a contestant's sexual assault and exploited that trauma for ratings—a claim she insists misrepresents what she actually said. But Brower, who now lives in Florida with her husband and two sons, isn't moved by any of it.
"Whatever happened with her, she said those words," Brower claimed. "She was the one that kept saying, 'Oh, that was more production. Oh, I was a producer.' That's her own fault...
She walked into all of that, and yes, that's what happens when you don't have control over the editing process." The Netflix docuseries appears to have struck a nerve precisely because it gave former contestants something they'd never had before: a platform to speak freely about their experiences on ANTM's set. Brower framed the documentary as long-overdue justice for participants who've historically been silenced by contractual obligations and NDAs. "There's been horrible things that happened to people, and they've never gotten any justice," she continued.
"We've never had a voice ever, besides our social media platforms, and now these documentaries are coming out. We finally get a chance to speak out and say what it was really like, and the aftermath of what happened to all of us, and how we felt used." Season 24 runner-up Jeana Turner echoed similar sentiments in her own statement to Us Weekly on June 15, arguing that former contestants themselves have been victims of defamation for years—a charge she says Banks never addressed when they raised concerns directly.
Brower saved perhaps her most cutting analysis for what she believes actually motivated Banks' lawsuit: wounded pride. "Her ego is bruised," Brower theorized. "She didn't like that all of America was making fun of her and [was] appalled by her, but she did all of these things...
She, 100 percent above anyone else, knows how it is. She called the shots, and she did everything that we were saying." The former model concluded with a blend of amusement and defiance, predicting Banks won't get far with her legal action while positioning herself firmly in the camp of contestants who've waited years to tell their side of the story. "I just find it comical that she's wanting to sue now because she didn't like her cut," Brower added.
"Welcome to show business, Tyra. You of all people should know all about it... It's just wild, but I'm here with my popcorn for this."
