Dr. Phil loses bankruptcy case, Merit Street Media ordered to liquidate

Dr. Phil's team plans to appeal the ruling after he was accused of destroying evidence via deleted text messages.

By Mary Kate Carr | October 29, 2025 | 11:18am

Screenshot: Merit Street Media/YouTube

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Dr. Phil loses bankruptcy case, Merit Street Media ordered to liquidate

“Dr.” Phil McGraw has lost the bankruptcy case concerning his company Merit Street Media. McGraw has been locked up in litigation for months, having been accused by his partners Trinity Broadcasting Network and Professional Bull Riders of shady dealings meant to swindle them to boost his new venture, Envoy Media. McGraw denied these allegations, but the court case revealed that he’d deleted incriminating messages and made promises to pay certain favored creditors over others. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the court ruled that McGraw improperly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect his own interests, and instead ordered that the bankruptcy proceed as a Chapter 7 liquidation. In his ruling, Bankruptcy Judge Scott Everett “business was as dead as a doornail when the bankruptcy was filed.”

Everett said he’d “never seen a case” like this, noting that the “Chapter 11 case is an anomaly” because “there never has been a pretense of a rehabilitation or a reorganization” of Merit Street (via The Independent). Instead, McGraw’s Envoy Media hired Merit Street employees and planned to absorb its remaining assets. Over the course of the trial, it was revealed McGraw had deleted a text promising his friend and creditor Jamie Ribman that his investment was safe no matter the outcome of the bankruptcy trial. Meanwhile, he’d boasted about pulling a “gangster move” to dilute Trinity’s stake and reduce TBN to “a passive minority investor.”

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“At this point, and not withstanding able counsel for the parties, the Chapter 11 case is a broken three-legged stool. The first leg is Mr. McGraw, who deletes unfavorable text messages he doesn’t want me to see, who vows to pay favored creditors no matter what the court does, and who vows to wipe out unfavored creditors. The second leg is Mr. Broadbent, who worked for Mr. McGraw’s newly created company after the petition date, without pushing back honest and direct answers to direct, simple questions,” said Everett, referencing Chief Reconstructing Officer Gary Broadbent. “And the third leg is a creditors committee, half composed of the Ribmans who enjoy a favorable payment guarantee from either Mr. McGraw or the debtor, no matter what the court does, and who enjoy the right under the proposed plan to supervise litigation.”

In accordance with this ruling, a trustee will be appointed to oversee the liquidation of Merit Street’s assets to be paid out to creditors. The general counsel for TBN, John Casoria, said that Trinity “appreciates the court taking the time and energy to hear the facts, learn the truth, and provide a detailed recitation of the events that transpired,” adding that TBN looks forward to bringing this matter to conclusion with a Chapter 7 trustee at the helm.”

Similarly, a spokesperson for PBR told The Independent, “Dr. Phil’s Merit Street Media reneged on its agreement with PBR after just five months for no valid reason, and then Dr. Phil attempted to skirt obligations a second time through a bankruptcy scheme the court called an ‘anomaly.’ We’re grateful they did not allow it. We look forward to continuing this process, which thanks to today’s ruling, will be overseen by an impartial trustee, to recover what we’re owed by Dr. Phil and his company.”

Meanwhile, McGraw’s production company Peteski has stated an intention to appeal the ruling. “We take great exception to the court’s improper assertions regarding the alleged destruction of evidence, which simply did not happen,” a company spokesperson told The Independent. “We will not let this stand given all that Dr. Phil and Peteski Productions have done to protect Merit Street employees, distributors, and other interested parties and to resolve this unfortunate situation.”