UPDATE: Dr. Phil has made a lucrative career out of getting up-close and personal with people, but he won’t get to do so with his old buddy and now legal opponent Matthew Crouch of Trinity Broadcasting Network, at least not next week.
A federal judge Thursday afternoon denied Phil McGraw’s Peteski Productions their 11th-hour aim to depose the Christian TV CEO as well as TBN’s top lawyer John Casoria on September 8. The suddenly desired sit-downs come as a tactic in the $500 million battle between the good doctor and the faith-based organization over a deal to get in business together that started so promisingly just over a year or so ago.
“I’m going to grant the motion to quash,” ordered Bankruptcy Judge Scott W Everett Thursday right near the end of an extremely dense hearing that went deep into who-said-what-and-what-were-they-really-asked territory. TBN lawyers had filed an emergency relief motion on September 3 to have the depositions squelched.
“I have some concerns about the timing, waiting this long this close to the hearing to ask for the representative the depositions of high ranking, in particular, Mr. Crouch, coming off the heels of a corporate rep deposition or two where it appears that those witnesses were adequately prepared based on for all reasons we’ve already discussed,” the Texas-set Judge Everett added, noting a hearing on TBN’s motion to dismiss Dr. Phil’s original breach of contract suit of July was coming up later this month. “I just don’t think depositions of those individuals at this stage is necessary. I don’t think they have unique personal knowledge about the true issues in dispute.”
There was no talk publicly today about any settlement talks between the parties, as Thursday’s hearing mainly centered on a $133 million loan that may or may not have been a loan or at least with any terms between Dr. Phil’s now Chapter 11 seeking Merit Street Media and TBN. What was just barely touched on was the upcoming potentially 14-hour deposition of Phil McGraw himself in the coming weeks — but you can be sure it is far from forgotten.
PREVIOUSLY 9:31 AM: With just hours to go before a potentially pivotal hearing today in Dr. Phil and Trinity Broadcasting Network’s multi-lawsuit battle over a $500 million deal gone wrong, settlement talks between the parties look to have sputtered out.
With all sound and fury the negotiations had earlier this week, as reported by Deadline, it seems everyone was relying too much on hopes and prayers and not enough on the hard bottom line, I’m told. “We’re not tapping out, but we’re nowhere near a deal,” a source close to the talks says. However, another individual dialed into the matter cautions about reading too much into any stall and notes “it’s just part of the give and take.”
Both sides of course have their own imperative for a settlement or at least the pursuit of one.
Aiming for Chapter 11 out of the charred husk of Phil McGraw‘s short-lived Merit Street Media venture with the Matthew Crouch-run Christian TV network, MSM sued TBN for breach of contract back in July. They alleged the 1973 formed multi-platform TBN failed to deliver “agreed-upon national distribution and other significant foundational commitments.” Amidst the finger pointing of why the much hyped alliance went down the River Styx, TBN first sought to have the matter tossed out and then countersued last month. In that countersuit, they accused Dr. Phil and his Peteski Productions of “reprehensible conduct” and having “falsely represented” their real financial status and viewership potential in order to quickly secure the $500 million production and distribution deal.
If you feel a bit like this is all a sub-plot in a future South Park episode, it’s hard to disagree. Add to that, Peteski is now providing $10 million to pay the Chapter 11 legal fees and more that MSN have piled up in just a few weeks.
To that, in the process, as almost always happens in such affairs, the parties, as well as the likes of TKO Group Holdings-owned creditor Professional Bull Riders, are in the dirt now fighting over discovery and depositions. A dust-up that is expected to be front and center at today’s hearing in front of Texas-based Bankruptcy Judge Scott W Everett.
To that, with Dr. Phil’s scheduled depo having come and passed without occurring yet and threats of sanctions, TBN CEO Matthew Crouch and the company’s top attorney John Casoria want to turn recent efforts to get quick depositions from them destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah-style.
“Peteski waited forty-two days after the filing of Trinity’s motion to to request depositions of Matthew Crouch (TBN’s President and Chairman of the Board) and John Casoria (TBN’s outside general counsel),” declared an emergency relief motion filed by TBN late Wednesday to quash the depos.
With Peteski and Dr. Phil seeking to get Crouch in front of the lawyers early next week, TBN wants Judge Everett to address their concerns in today’s hearing and shut the whole thing down.
“Despite knowledge of the players and the issues the Court must determine, Peteski now demands that Crouch and Casoria provide additional testimony on the deposition topics that were vaguely worded, and for which answers were already provided without sufficient follow-up,” the September 3 filing adds. “Not only should Peteski’s inexplicable delay in seeking these depositions not be rewarded, but its attempt to improperly force Trinity to select a corporate representative of Peteski’s choosing—simply because Peteski prepared inadequate topics and failed to ask proper follow up questions—should be rebuffed. This is particularly true where, as here, Peteski has failed to subpoena witnesses in a manner consistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”
Reps for Dr. Phil and Peteski had “no comment on either the state of settlement talks or the pushback on the Crouch and Casoria depositions. TBN representatives did not respond at all to Deadline’s request for comment.
Maybe they are saving their powder for today’s hearing.
