Tyra Banks’ ice cream shop was pulled into lawsuit just months before the ANTM doc
She was sued for $2.8 million
Tyra Banks is being talked about by pretty much everyone as the new America’s Next Top Model documentary hits Netflix. She didn’t actually appear in the emotional series until the very last minute, and that could be because she was in a lawsuit just months ago.
If you’ve followed Tyra for a while, you may remember she owned an ice cream shop – until December 2025. She’d pretty much abandoned the whole concept, which was called SMIZE, which then led to her getting sued for a whopping $2.8 million.
A landlord living in Washington DC basically sued Tyra and her business partner, Louis Martin, over a failed ten-year lease for the ice cream shop. The lawsuit alleges they abandoned the Eastern Market property in June 2024 without paying rent. Yikes.
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The Cut reported that the defendants called the suit an “opportunistic” extortion attempt, with landlord Christopher Powell claiming they abandoned the building after signing for the lease. Attorneys for Tyra and Louis filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in late 2025.
Their defence on the lawsuit, which was originally filed in October 2025, was a lack of jurisdiction. And regardless of being sued and closing the DC space, Tyra has now opened a new hot ice cream shop in Sydney, Australia, and yes, it’s served warm.
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Smize and Dream started as a mobile ice cream outlet in Dubai and a pre-packaged shop in Los Angeles, California. D.C. was the company’s first pop-up shop, in which the landlord said he undertook “extensive financial investment” for and rejected other applicants.
The landlord was asking for “no less than $2,831,331 in addition to late fees, accrued interest, Additional Rent, attorneys’ fees, and reletting expenses.” Tyra and Louis have both denied wrongdoing, while it appears the shop is still open in Washington.
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