Tyra Banks And America's Got Talent Got Sued Over The Supermodel's Treatment Of A Child

When most America's Got Talent fans watch the popular reality TV competition show, they want to see the rich judges and performers who will become successful. However, the fact is that there are facts about America's Got Talent that fans rarely think about. For example, fans don't think about the rules that the people auditioning follow or about Howie Mandel's scandalous past.

Another thing about AGT that most fans likely don't think about or even know about was the time that Tyra Banks got the show sued. Amazingly enough, that lawsuit was inspired by the allegation that Tyra abused a child who was auditioning for the show.

Tyra Banks' Alleged Abusive Behavior Got America's Got Talent's Producers Sued

After Tyra Banks first rose to international fame as a supermodel, she branched out in her career. In fact, there certainly are a lot of people now who only know Tyra as a television host, since that is what she has been focused on for years. While it is very impressive that Tyra was able to become so successful as a host, that doesn't mean that part of her career has always been easy. The sad truth is that Tyra's conduct as a TV host has become controversial on many occasions.

While Tyra must have been frustrated when she got involved in scandals, that almost certainly pales in comparison to when she was hosting America's Got Talent. After all, Tyra became the focus of disturbing allegations that resulted in her AGT bosses being sued.

In May 2017, Deadline reported that a lawsuit had been filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The lawsuit named the production companies behind America's Got Talent as the defendants.

Deadline's article went on to reveal that the lawsuit had been filed over Tyra Banks' alleged behavior on the show's set. While Tyra allegedly causing a lawsuit was enough to garner headlines, the details of the alleged incident were what was truly shocking.

Throughout Tyra Banks' career, she has hosted several shows. Tyra has most notably hosted America's Next Top Model, The Tyra Banks Show, America's Got Talent, and Dancing with the Stars.

According to the lawsuit, Tyra Banks “physically manipulated and verbally abused” a young girl who was being filmed for America's Got Talent. Furthermore, the lawsuit accuses Tyra of humiliating the child.

According to Deadline's report, the child's parents went on America's Got Talent to audition. As a part of the audition, the parents performed an original song they wrote about their family's bond which had a lot of meaning for them.

The lawsuit that was filed against America's Got Talent's producers over Tyra's alleged behavior stated that the song her parents performed was “especially favored” by the young girl.

In the lawsuit, the lawyers representing the couple stated that the song was poorly received by Tyra and some members in the show's audience. In fact, Tyra allegedly made fun of the song and mocked the performance in front of the girl. If that allegation was true, that would certainly be in very bad taste. However, the allegations continue and get a lot worse.

Deadline's article quoted from the lawsuit about Tyra's alleged conduct during the audition.

According to a May 2023 article from The U.S. Sun, America's Got Talent's producers have been sued at least four times since the show began.

The article also revealed that the lawsuit named Tyra as "an individual acting as an agent of defendants." It also is important to note that the lawsuit names the young girl as Mary Doe to protect the child's identity.

The lawsuit went on to detail some of Tyra's alleged mistreatment of Mary.

"[Tyra] physically manipulated and verbally abused Mary. Banks shook Mary’s shoulder, pulled Mary’s hair back and physically manipulated Mary."

The lawsuit states that the child didn't do anything to stop Tyra's alleged behavior because she was 'fearful" of how the host would react.

Deadlines' article revealed the exact nature of Tyra's alleged verbal abuse.

"Banks also insinuated that Mary was accidentally conceived, made fun of the performance and ridiculed [the song] in front of Mary, all in front of active cameras that were filming Mary. After the performance, Banks asked Mary to describe, in front of active and filming cameras, her opinion about Jane and her husband after they were publicly ridiculed by AGT."

The saddest part of the lawsuit is the description it includes of how the child allegedly was affected by the incident. "As a result of her negative experience from AGT and Defendants’ abusive treatment, Mary was traumatized and became deeply depressed.”

After the lawsuit was filed, there weren't any publicly revealed updates on the matter. That makes it seem like there is a very strong chance that an out-of-court settlement was reached. However, that is just conjecture, since that hasn't been confirmed.

Tyra Banks Was Sued For $3 Million Because Of Her Alleged Conduct When She Hosted ANTM

This isn't the first time Tyra has come under fire while hosting. Between 2003 and 2018, Tyra was the host of America's Next Top Model. In recent years, fans have rediscovered some of Tyra's behavior from ANTM that has since caused a backlash on social media. On top of that, Tyra's America's Next Top Model tenure also inspired a lawsuit against her.

In December 2014, Tyra was sued over some of her alleged behavior during her ANTM tenure. In the lawsuit, Tyra was accused of wrongfully eliminating one of the competitors and depriving them of winning the season and the prizes that came with that.

Entertainment Weekly reported on the 2014 lawsuit filed against Tyra. The lawsuit was filed by a former three-time ANTM competitor named Angelea Preston. After becoming a semifinalist during Cycle 12 and placing in the top four during Cycle 14, Angelea became Cycle 17's original winner. Unfortunately for Angelea, that was when the problems started.

Entertainment Weekly's report revealed that Angelea's lawsuit alleged that she was disqualified from winning because of her past. According to Angelea, she wasn't allowed to win after the show discovered she'd been an escort in the past.

As a result of being disqualified, Angelea filed a lawsuit against Tyra and The CW, alleging they'd breached an oral agreement and a written contract. The lawsuit also claimed that Angelea suffered emotional distress and that medical treatment was withheld from her when she suffered a panic attack on the show. Finally, the lawsuit alleged that the show failed to pay Angelea minimum wage. Based on all her claims, Angelea was seeking to be paid $3 million.

Entertainment Weekly's article quoted The CW's statement on the lawsuit. “As noted during the broadcast of the America’s Next Top Model finale in 2011, information about Angelea was learned after production wrapped on that cycle that led to her disqualification from the competition. We are confident that her lawsuit has no merit.” Similar to the AGT lawsuit, there weren't any publicly known updates on this lawsuit either.