In Trinity’s version of events, McGraw duped the network into a partnership by claiming he had the rights to Dr. Phil and would produce new episodes of it, but only if Trinity partnered with his production company Peteski and paid him $20 million. Otherwise, he told Trinity, he’d stick with CBS, which he claimed was prepared to pay him $75 million annually. Once the deal was struck, Trinity poured millions into Merit Street until it became clear that “McGraw couldn’t deliver the viewership numbers, product integrations and advertising revenues they promised,” per THR.
Included among McGraw’s various alleged misdeeds are hiring a bunch of Dr. Phil alums rather than local Texas workers as he promised Trinity he’d do; insisting that the joint venture make lucrative deals with his buddies Steve Harvey, Nancy Grace, and Chris Harrison; and tricking Trinity into giving up its controlling share of Merit Street while saving his Dr. Phil rights for his new venture, Envoy. Trinity’s lawsuit now alleges fraud and breach of contract, and the network “seeks a court order of both companies’ rights and obligations under their deal, as well as a ruling that McGraw agreed to hand over his library of old episodes of Dr. Phil as part of Peteski’s consideration for receiving a 30 percent stake in Merit Street.”
Merit is suing Trinity for breach of contract, alleging that the network engaged in “a conscious, intentional pattern of choices made with full awareness that the consequence of which was to sabotage and seal the fate of a new but already nationally acclaimed network.” McGraw’s media company accused its distribution partner of withholding payments and providing “shoddy production services,” pinning the blame for its failures on Trinity.
