Tyra Banks She is embroiled in a messy legal battle over her ice cream company, claiming her landlord is attempting a “celebrity shakedown”.

According to court documents, Tyra is in a dispute with her Washington, D.C., landlord over the cancellation of her plans to open an ice cream shop, and is now seeking more than $50,000 in fines from the landlord who tried to take her to court.

Tyra said her landlord knows she lives in Australia and has no real ties to the US or Washington DC, where the lawsuit was filed. She said the move to the property Down Under was well known and the landlord must have known.

It all goes back to October 2025. Christopher Powell — sued Tyra and her business partner and boyfriend through his company. Louis Bélanger Martin.

According to the complaint, Powell was in talks with Tyra and Lewis to open a location for her ice cream company, Smith’s & Dream, in her building in Washington, D.C.

He claims Tyra told him the Washington, D.C., store would be the flagship store and would help underserved youth in Washington.

The landlord said Tyra and her business partner signed a 10-year lease for the location in April 2024. He claims he spent thousands of dollars restoring the space.

According to the complaint, Tyra opened a store in Sydney, Australia behind the scenes. Christopher said she was upset that she lost money because the other tenants refused to sign the lease with her.

According to court documents, Tyra and her boyfriend abandoned the Washington, D.C. store in June 2024 and refused to pay rent. The suit says Tyra “weaponized” her celebrity influence to dissuade Tyra from filing a lawsuit. Christopher requested more than $2.8 million in damages.

Tyra has denied all allegations of wrongdoing. Tyra claimed she had terminated her lease for a valid reason, but her landlord demanded $2.9 million, which Tyra called a “celebrity crackdown.”