Dr. Phil McGraw has filed a new motion after his media company, Merit Street Media, filed for bankruptcy protection.
After Merit recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, McGraw, 74, alleged in a new motion obtained by Us Weekly that the company’s former business partners are attempting to depress its values by filing “incendiary” and “inflammatory” court documents.
“From the outset of this Bankruptcy Case, both Movants entered into a ‘press strategy’ fueled in large part by incendiary pleadings they knew would be picked up by the media which, predictably, did occur,” the filing reads. “The effect of this is to not only insult and denigrate [his company] Peteski and Dr. McGraw but also to depress the value of the Debtor.”
McGraw further claimed that the alleged “press strategy” from broadcaster Trinity Broadcasting Network and fellow partner Professional Bull Riders (PBR) was “full of inflammatory and damaging assertions of bad faith, improper conduct and self-dealing” that were “unfounded” and “speculative.”
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Merit filed for bankruptcy protection last month, which two of McGraw’s former broadcast partners have since attempted to have dismissed in court for its allegedly unlawful actions. Trinity had claimed that McGraw swindled them by failing to deliver a single episode of his eponymous talk show after inking a $500 million, 10-year deal in legal documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
McGraw denied the allegations in his latest filing, stressing that he “successfully produced and broadcasted content nationwide, 24 hours a day and seven days a week” and many of his episodes aired on Trinity.
McGraw also asserted in his recent filing that all “corporate actions and decisions were taken in full compliance” with the law.
“The decision to declare bankruptcy was far from being a ‘sham’ and was instead a painful decision after much sweat equity had been invested into the Merit Network journey and brand development by Dr. McGraw,” the TV personality’s filing reads.
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“Peteski invested millions of dollars to save the Merit Network and resisted bankruptcy for months despite Trinity’s continued failure to live up to its obligations even when Trinity reaffirmed those duties in a written and signed document in December 2024.”
Trinity and PBR have not publicly addressed the accusations. Us Weekly has reached out to both organizations for comment.
McGraw, meanwhile, has requested that the court follow similar proceedings in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s ongoing legal battle, requiring that any court docs exclude “intemperate language and personal attacks.” (Lively, 37, sued Baldoni, 41, in December 2024 for sexual harassment, which he’s vehemently denied.)
“Counsel to Peteski commends this same language to this Court and ask that the Court enter an order with similar language,” McGraw’s attorneys write. “For the avoidance of doubt, Peteski objects to all of the Movants’ arguments to dismiss or convert the Bankruptcy Case, or to appoint a chapter 11 trustee, and denies all allegations made therein.”
McGraw is further hopeful that his motion will “correct the false narrative” spurned by Trinity that subsequently caused his “financial distress.”
A spokesperson for Peteski also addresses the legal battle.
“TBN’s latest lawsuit is riddled with provable lies, and is part of a lawfare litigation strategy designed to distract people so no one notices when TBN ultimately is held accountable for walking away from its commitments here,” a rep for Peteski told Us in a statement. “Among other things, they claim we didn’t create any episodes. A simple check of IMDb tells the real story — we created more than 200 episodes. People lost their jobs and Peteski Productions has incurred millions of dollars of losses because of TBN’s bad behavior. We will continue to fight for justice in this case.”
