Tyra Banks Seeking More Than $50,000 in Sanctions Against Ex-Business Partner, Calls His Lawsuit A ‘Celebrity Shakedown’

Tyra Banks is embroiled in a nasty courtroom battle over her Ice Cream firm — claiming a landlord is making an attempt a “movie star shakedown.”

In courtroom docs, Tyra … who’s battling with a Washington D.C. landlord over a scrapped plan to open an ice cream store … is now looking for greater than $50,000 in sanctions from the owner who tried to pull her to courtroom.

Tyra mentioned the owner is aware of she lives in Australia and has no actual ties to America or D.C., the place the lawsuit was filed. She mentioned her transfer to the land Down Below was well-publicized, and the owner ought to have been conscious.

It began again in October 2025, when a constructing proprietor named Christopher Powell — by and thru his firm — sued Tyra and her enterprise associate and boyfriend, Louis Bélanger-Martin.

In response to the lawsuit, Powell was in talks with Tyra and Louis to open a location for her ice cream firm, Smize & Dream, inside his constructing in Washington, D.C.

He claims Tyra advised him the D.C. location could be the flagship retailer and would additionally assist underserved younger individuals in Washington.

The owner mentioned Tyra and her enterprise associate signed a 10-year lease for the situation in April 2024. He claims he spent hundreds to repair the area up.

The go well with alleges Tyra went behind his again and opened a location in Sydney, Australia. Christopher mentioned he was upset as a result of he turned down different tenants to signal the lease along with her, which induced him to lose cash.

Per courtroom docs, Tyra and her boyfriend deserted the D.C. location in June 2024 and refused to pay lease.  The lawsuit says Tyra “weaponized” her movie star affect to discourage him from suing her. Christopher demanded an extra of $2.8 million in damages.

Tyra denied all allegations of wrongdoing. She claimed she terminated the lease for legitimate causes, which led to the owner demanding $2.9 million, which Tyra referred to as a “movie star shakedown.”