The meltdown surrounding Tyra Banks’ ice cream company—”Smize & Dream”—alleged jilting of the lease on a flagship location in Washington, D.C.’s Eastern Market is far from over. On the heels of Netflix’s controversial documentary “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” Banks is once again making headlines, this time for legal action of her own.
After Christopher Powell voluntarily dismissed his original lawsuit, the 52-year-old supermodel and entrepreneur is now seeking $50,000 in sanctions against him, TMZ reports, alleging he attempted a “celebrity shakedown.”
According to the outlet, Banks argues that her relocation to Australia was widely publicized and that Powell should have been aware of her plans.
As previously reported by theGrio, Powell’s company filed suit in October 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Banks and her business partner and boyfriend, Louis Bélanger-Martin. He alleged that he had been in discussions with the pair about opening a brick-and-mortar “Smize & Dream” location in Eastern Market that would serve as the brand’s flagship while also creating career development opportunities for disadvantaged local youth.
Powell claimed Banks and Bélanger-Martin signed a 10-year lease in April 2024 and that thousands of dollars were spent renovating the space, NBC News reported.
In July 2024, Banks, whose brother lived in the Nation’s Capital for 28 years while serving in the military and inspired her interest in expanding there, instead opened a “Smize & Dream” pop-up in Woodley Park.
Banks and her partner, along with her son, moved to Australia in late 2023 and ultimately opened the brand’s flagship location there in June 2025, a decision Powell alleged in his initial suit was made without his knowledge. At the time, he claimed he was left to handle the “legal and financial fallout from their abandonment,” seeking $2.9 million in damages and accusing Banks of “weaponizing” her celebrity.
Banks denied all wrongdoing, maintaining that she terminated the lease for valid reasons. On Dec. 30, Powell dismissed the lawsuit.
