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Tyra Banks Sued for Verbally Abusing and ‘Physically Manipulating’ a Young Girl

A family from 'America's Got Talent' is making the accusations.

Trya Banks is in some hot water as a contestant at her new America's Got Talent gig is suing the show after claims that the former supermodel ridiculed and "physically manipulated" her daughter.

According to Page Six, the contestant and her husband sang a song during the audition process about the birth of their daughter — who they've called "Mary Doe." While the judges weren't feeling the song, the parents say they did not have a problem with their crticism as much as they did with Banks's interaction with their daughter back stage.

In the lawsuit, the couple claims that Banks "physically manipulated and verbally abused Mary" and they went a bit further, adding that the host "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."

The suit claims that because of the interaction with Banks, Mary "was traumatized and became deeply depressed."

While most contestants who go through the audition process on the show usually sign waivers acknowledging the possibility of public humiliation, the lawsuit argues that Mary, a minor, actually entered into a contract with the production company without her parents' permission. The suit claims that AGT agreed to pull Mary's reactions from the audition clip, but the couple wants the show to go a bit further and not televise the performance in its entirety to avoid "distressing" their daughter any further.

Get the latest on Tyra's new gig in the BET Breaks video, above.

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