Overview
- A lawsuit filed Thursday, Aug. 20, in Los Angeles Superior Court by longtime publicist Jerry Sharell accuses Phil McGraw and his companies of sexual‑orientation discrimination, failure to pay timely wages and wrongful termination and seeks a jury trial and damages.
- Sharell says he was excluded from Merit Street Media’s 2023 move to Dallas because he is openly gay and cites alleged anti‑gay remarks by McGraw and coworkers plus a shift toward religious practices tied to a partnership with Trinity Broadcasting Network.
- The complaint alleges that after Merit Street reorganized into Envoy Media Sharell was reclassified from a salaried employee to an independent contractor, suffered about a 30% pay cut, lost benefits and experienced late payments before being placed on a March 2026 'hiatus.'
- Envoy Media and McGraw deny the claims and say the lawsuit improperly bypasses a contractual arbitration agreement while promising to vigorously defend against the allegations.
- The case follows Merit Street’s 2025 bankruptcy and a federal judge’s finding that led to liquidation after deleted‑text evidence, which adds legal and reputational context and makes the dispute over arbitration versus public trial the key next development to watch.