Tyra Banks is thinking far beyond runways and TV screens.
During a recent appearance on The Jermaine Plane Podcast, the supermodel and entrepreneur made it clear that, when she looks ahead, it’s her ice cream brand—not her decades in fashion—that she hopes will define her lasting impact.
Speaking candidly about SMiZE & DREAM, Banks described the project as deeply personal and rooted in her upbringing.
“The legacy, the real legacy, I want it to be ice cream. I really do,” she said during the conversation, explaining that while she’s proud of her modeling career, it feels finite in a way her food business does not. “With modeling, it’s like an athlete—it’s over. The ice cream, I want that to live forever.”
Banks connected the brand directly to her mother’s sacrifices while raising her as a single parent, recalling Friday nights spent driving to get ice cream after long workweeks. “Smize me—smiling with the eyes—and my mom dreams having a dream and a vision,” she said, explaining how the brand name reflects both joy and perseverance.
She also described the symbolic truffle placed at the bottom of each ice cream tub as representing “your dream to dig deep and dig hard… and when you reach that goal, you can taste sweet success.”
During the interview, Banks emphasized that SMiZE & DREAM is not a celebrity vanity project but something she sees as bigger than herself. “I want to create a legacy that even when I’m gone, it means something,” she said. “That I become a myth… and that this is something that is continuing to give people joy.”
Those remarks come as Banks faces a legal dispute tied to the expansion of her ice cream business. A Washington, D.C., landlord has filed a $2.8 million lawsuit alleging breach of a 10-year commercial lease related to a planned SMiZE & DREAM location.
The suit claims that Banks and her business partners abandoned the property months after signing the lease and failed to pay rent.
The landlord is seeking more than $2.8 million in damages, plus fees and interest, arguing that the agreement was valid and that the project was positioned as a flagship store.
Attorneys for Banks have pushed back, filing a motion to dismiss the case. The matter is pending, with the court expected to decide whether to proceed.
Despite the legal challenges, Banks’ comments on the podcast suggest her focus remains on building something enduring. “Different is better than better,” she said.