The spectacle unfolding in Dallas has all the makings of a courtroom drama worthy of a prime-time slot: Dr. Phil McGraw, the king of daytime therapy turned media mogul, now finds himself locked in an increasingly bitter holy war with Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and its unexpected ally, Professional Bull Riders (PBR).
The battleground isn’t just a failed $500 million production and distribution deal—it’s a question of whether Dr. Phil is ducking accountability or whether TBN is running a scorched-earth campaign to bankrupt him in the court of public opinion.
At the heart of the storm: discovery. TBN’s latest emergency filing accuses McGraw and his companies, Peteski Productions and Merit Street Media, of “deliberate reruns” of delay tactics. They say he hasn’t produced key emails, text messages, or documents connected to Envoy—a rival media venture Dr. Phil reportedly incorporated just one day before his company filed for bankruptcy. That, TBN argues, looks less like coincidence and more like a shell game designed to siphon assets away from creditors.
Their allies at PBR are even more direct, calling the bankruptcy a “scheme” to gut Merit Street Media, leaving nothing but reruns on a hollow channel while funneling talent and intellectual property into Envoy. PBR, who yanked its own programming months ago, claims it’s owed a staggering $180 million.
For Dr. Phil, the timing couldn’t be worse. He’s currently scheduled for a seven-hour deposition, something he’s allegedly tried to avoid at all costs. According to TBN, he’s playing for delay—starving his opponents of the very documents they need to grill him under oath. Their message to the court is simple: don’t reward this behavior by postponing his deposition. Make him answer the questions.
But Dr. Phil’s camp insists this is all theater. In a fiery response, his reps blasted TBN and PBR for pursuing a “transparent and highly coordinated strategy” designed to weaponize the media and strangle Merit Street Media with endless discovery demands. They argue they’ve turned over everything relevant, only to be met with requests for “increasingly marginal” material, all while their legal team bleeds dry. To them, this isn’t about justice—it’s about leverage.
And so here we are, on the cusp of hearings that could determine whether McGraw emerges bloodied but intact or faces crippling sanctions and deeper scrutiny. The bankruptcy court in the Northern District of Texas has become the unlikely arena where entertainment, faith broadcasting, and financial litigation collide.
For TBN and PBR, the stakes are existential: millions lost, reputations sullied, and the credibility of contracts tested. For Dr. Phil, the stakes are personal: his empire, his fortune, and his legacy as more than just a TV doctor.
As TBN’s lawyers put it bluntly: “The time for patience has passed.”
