The news on Tyra Banks’ once-upon-a-time Washington, D.C., ice cream dream is messy.
The 52-year-old model-turned-ice-cream entrepreneur and her enterprise accomplice and present romantic accomplice, Louis Bélanger-Martin, are dealing with a $2.8 million lawsuit tied to a deliberate Smize & Dream store within the nation’s capital, Fox 45 Information reported.
In response to new court docket filings, Christopher Powell, a D.C. landlord, has sued College of SMiZE LLC, alleging breach of contract and associated claims stemming from a 10-year industrial lease signed within the spring of 2024, Leisure Weekly reported. Powell claims the house was supposed to accommodate a flagship ice cream store that may additionally function a group hub, together with programming geared toward supporting and educating at-risk youth.
“She stated Smize & Dream wouldn’t solely be an ice cream store, but additionally an initiative to offer underserved youth in Washington with training in science, gross sales, and hospitality,” the submitting learn per the outlet. “Ms. Banks advised Mr. Powell that the D.C. location in his constructing can be the flagship location of what Ms. Banks envisioned as a world chain serving communities world wide.”
The lawsuit alleges that after signing the lease, Banks’ firm failed to maneuver ahead with the buildout, stopped paying lease, and finally deserted the house, even because the Smize & Dream model continued to develop elsewhere. Powell additional claims the enterprise shifted its focus abroad, together with a current launch in Sydney, Australia, with out fulfilling the commitments tied to the D.C. location.
Banks and her enterprise accomplice have denied the allegations and filed a movement to dismiss, arguing the lawsuit is legally flawed and mustn’t proceed, ABC 7 reported.
Banks, who not too long ago relocated to Sydney with Martin and her son, first launched Smize & Dream in 2021, naming the ice cream model after her signature modeling catchphrase “smize” as a strategy to channel her long-standing love of the dessert right into a playful, story-driven enterprise.
Since its debut, the model has operated largely by pop-ups and restricted engagements, together with a Smize & Dream pop-up in Washington, D.C.’s Woodley Park neighborhood in July 2024, earlier than increasing internationally and opening a flagship location in Sydney.
