A Washington, D.C., landlord filed a $2.8 million lawsuit towards supermodel-turned-entrepreneur Tyra Banks and her enterprise companions Friday, alleging they deserted plans for a flagship ice cream store after signing a long-term lease. 

The civil grievance, filed in U.S. District Court, claims Banks, her ice cream enterprise Smize & Dream and companion Louis Martin entered a 10-year industrial lease for retail house within the metropolis’s Eastern Market neighborhood in April 2024. 

Instead of opening the Washington location, the lawsuit says Banks and her crew dropped the venture that summer season and shifted consideration to a Sydney, Australia, store.

Lease Dispute Over Abandoned Storefront

Landlord Christopher Powell asserts within the grievance that he signed the lease anticipating long-term tenancy and funding in his property. He says he spent months coordinating with the crew about build-out plans. 

“Although Mr. Powell made repeated good-faith efforts to resolve this matter amicably, he is now left with deep financial loss,” the lawsuit states.

Powell is looking for not less than $2,831,331, plus curiosity, authorized charges and different prices allowed underneath the lease.

According to the grievance, Banks and Martin vacated the house in June 2024, stopped paying hire and declined additional communication about their obligations. Weeks later, the lawsuit says, a Smize & Dream pop-up appeared close by whereas the unique lease was nonetheless in impact.

Banks and her authorized crew have referred to as the lawsuit meritless. In courtroom filings, they argue the lease was signed by School of SMiZE LLC, not the people, and contend the plaintiff’s claims are an “opportunistic ploy by Plaintiff to extort money from Defendants.” 

The movement to dismiss additionally states the defendants raised unresolved property deficiencies as a motive for withdrawing from the lease, claims Powell’s grievance calls false.

Plans That Never Materialized

Banks launched Smize & Dream lately, mixing premium ice cream with a mission to empower underserved youth via entrepreneurship. 

The Washington location was to function a flagship and group incubator, however authorized information present it by no means opened. Instead, the corporate’s first correct store now operates in Sydney, the place Smize & Dream’s “hot ice cream” idea has attracted consideration.