Tyra Banks
Demanding $50,000 in Court docket …
Over ‘Celebrity Shakedown’
Printed
Tyra Banks is embroiled in a nasty court docket battle over her Ice Cream firm — claiming a landlord is making an attempt a “movie star shakedown.”
In court docket 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 court docket.
Tyra stated 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 stated 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.
In accordance with 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 folks in Washington.
The owner stated Tyra and her enterprise accomplice signed a 10-year lease for the placement 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 stated he was upset as a result of he turned down different tenants to signal the lease together with her, which precipitated him to lose cash.
Per court docket docs, Tyra and her boyfriend deserted the D.C. location in June 2024 and refused to pay hire. 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 “celebrity shakedown.”
The owner finally voluntarily dismissed the case again in December … however Tyra is now looking for sanctions for having to defend herself within the first place and desires the decide to ship a powerful message to the owner.
