Tyra Banks, "hot ice cream" and a D.C. lawsuit
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Tyra Banks Hosts "SMiZE & DREAM" Hot Ice Cream First Taste at Artechouse in New York earlier this month. Photo: Manny Carabel/Getty Images
What do a world-famous supermodel, an ice cream incubator for underserved youth, an Eastern Market property, something called "hot ice cream," and Australia all have in common?
- They're all connected to a lawsuit unfolding right here in the District.
Why it matters: The landlord of a D.C. building is alleging that celebrity model Tyra Banks and her business partner unlawfully backed out of a lease for their ice cream-focused nonprofit "Smize & Dream," instead pivoting the venture all the way to … the other side of the planet, aka Sydney.
- Banks and her partner, meanwhile, assert that they rightfully terminated the lease because they say the building was faulty and they didn't get access to the full space promised to them, according to court documents reviewed by Axios.
Driving the news: Banks has recently been all over the internet for her viral "hot ice cream" and her new scoop-centric holiday song "Santa Smize," named after an alter ego character Banks plays who is Santa's worst enemy, naturally.
- She recently performed the banger in-character at an Australian gay bar, prompting one social media poster to implore "somebody come collect tyra banks."
State of play: DMV landlord Christopher Powell filed a $2.8 million suit in October against Banks and her partner, Louis Martin, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
- Powell's complaint says that last year the duo "abruptly" informed him they were backing out of a 10-year lease and wouldn't pay rent for his Eastern Market building, where they'd planned to open the flagship Smize & Dream location. (The name = an allusion to Banks' trademark phrase meaning "smiling with your eyes.")
- Louis and Martin later explained this was due to issues with the property.
Shortly after, Powell saw coverage of Banks eating ice cream with then-Vice President Kamala Harris — at a pop-up shop Banks had opened across town in Woodley Park (complete with signs reading "pose in line like TyTy's watching. Cuz she is.").
What they're saying: "I was 100% caught off guard," Powell tells Axios.
- Banks and Martin seemed "really excited" about the Eastern Market spot, says Powell.
- "She was telling me how she's so familiar with the area" and wanted to get a place of her own here, he says. (Banks — whose brother lives in D.C. — even brought Powell some Smize-cream of his own, says his lawyer, Arziki Adamu.)
Even more shocking, Powell says, was when he eventually saw the news that Banks had opened her flagship incubator Down Under instead of D.C.
The other side: Powell's suit is an attempt to "extort money" in a "celebrity shakedown," per Banks and Martin's motion to dismiss.
- Instead, the duo tried to resolve the alleged building issues "amicably" with Powell but were rejected, so they had no option but to terminate the lease, per court documents.
- And they say they sent the termination notice several months before the lease officially started, meaning Powell had time to find other tenants and recoup costs.
Banks and Martin declined to comment via their lawyers, who said that "our clients vigorously deny the claims and allegations made against them."
Yes, but: Powell says the building isn't defective "by any means" and that Banks and Martin saw it several times before signing the lease, which they knew wouldn't include the entire property.
The intrigue: If all this lawsuit talk is making you hungry for some hot ice cream, you don't have to book a ticket to Australia — Banks is popping up her concoction in New York through Sunday.
What we're watching: Powell's legal team is expected to file its response to Banks' motion to dismiss by the end of the month, per court records.