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Tyra Banks seeking $50K over ice cream company 'shakedown'

Jami Ganz, New York Daily News on

Published in Entertainment News

Tyra Banks is seeking more than $50,000 in connection to a court battle over her ice cream company, which she claims was nothing more than a “celebrity shakedown.”

The “America’s Next Top Model” creator was first sued by landlord Christopher Powell in October for more than $2.8 million in damages, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.

The initial suit, filed in Washington, D.C., accused Banks and Louis Bélanger-Martin — her boyfriend and business partner — of skipping out on rent for a D.C. location initially intended to house Banks’ flagship ice cream shop, SMiZE & DREAM.

According to Powell, the supermodel and Bélanger-Martin signed a 10-year lease back in April 2024, then abruptly abandoned their plans two months later and refused to pay rent.

Powell claimed he shelled out thousands of dollars to spruce up the location and turned down other prospective tenants while Banks pivoted to opening the flagship store in her new home of Sydney, Australia.

 

He also accused Banks of having “weaponized” her fame so that he wouldn’t take legal action against her.

Though Powell dismissed his lawsuit back in December, Banks is now seeking more than $50,000 in sanctions for “having to defend herself in the first place,” according to TMZ.

Calling Powell’s attempt to drag her to court a “celebrity shakedown,” Banks claims she terminated the lease for valid reasons and says the landlord should have been well-aware she relocated to Australia, given the headlines the move made.

Banks’ filing comes amid a resurgence of backlash after she repeatedly passed the buck for controversies on and around her modeling competition show, when taken to task in the new Netflix docuseries “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.”


©2026 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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