Update!

"Terrified" Tyra Banks Testifies Against Alleged Stalker, Who Says He Never Meant to Scare Her

Supermodel testifies about the day Brady Green visited her studio, calmly talks about how scared she felt

By Natalie Finn, Breanne L. Heldman Apr 29, 2009 10:35 PMTags
Tyra Banks, Courthouse SketchRosenberg

Tyra Banks had her own moment in the hot seat this morning.

The supermodel-TV host took the stand in Manhattan Criminal Court to testify against her accused stalker, 39-year-old Brady Green, who's on trial for charges of stalking, harassment and criminal trespassing.

According to the New York Daily News, the star was calm as she told the court how terrified she and her staff were in March 2008 when Green attempted to get past security at the Tyra Banks Show studio. The staff wouldn't allow Banks to exit her dressing room.

"'Stop! No! You can't leave,' " she claimed they said. "I know I have fans, but I've never in my entire career had my staff act in this way."

The incident has left her shaken to this day.

"I fear for my safety," she said. "I feel extremely vulnerable."

Prosecutors claim Green even threatened to slash a Banks employee's throat when the person refused to give up the studio address, per the New York Post.

"I don't fear for my life—I fear the safety of my staffers," Banks explained. "I fear the safety of my family. I fear the safety of people in my vicinity."

She admitted that since Green's phone calls, love notes and the appearance at the studio, she has heightened her security, even having them tail her when she goes for a run.

"I don't live that kind of sheltered, protective life," she said. "I like to walk around my neighborhood."

Banks also described Green as "more aggressive" than a typical fan, despite the defendant's lawyer, Jeffrey Berman, pointing to the talk-show's website urging viewers to write to the model. Berman also pointed out that his client also watches Oprah Winfrey's and Montel Williams' shows.

If convicted, Green faces a maximum of 90 days in prison.

But he maintains that he never meant to frighten the face of America's Next Top Model and that he never threatened or tried to date her.

On the stand this afternoon, Green testified that a Tyra Banks Show episode about racism and homelessness had inspired him to get tickets to the show. His attempts to do so had caused a misunderstanding, he said.

Green later admitted under cross-examination that he had hopped a bus from Los Angeles to New York, where he knew no one, and that the first thing he did when he arrived in the Big Apple was go to the building where Tyra tapes.

Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday.

(Originally published April 29, 2009, at 9:36 a.m. PT)