Tyra Banks
Demanding $50,000 in Court docket …
Over ‘Movie star Shakedown’
Revealed
Tyra Banks is embroiled in a nasty courtroom battle over her Ice Cream firm — claiming a landlord is trying a “superstar 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 searching 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 Underneath 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 accomplice and boyfriend, Louis Bélanger-Martin.
Based on 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 instructed 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 accomplice signed a 10-year lease for the placement in April 2024. He claims he spent 1000’s 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 together with her, which triggered 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 superstar 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 “superstar shakedown.”
The owner ultimately voluntarily dismissed the case again in December … however Tyra is now searching for sanctions for having to defend herself within the first place and desires the choose to ship a powerful message to the owner.