Jim Cornette and his podcast partner Brian Last are suing podcast networks and publisher, Kast Media.
Cornette and Last’s Arcadian Vanguard are accusing Kast and former CEO of Kast Media, Colin Thomson, of not paying the advertising revenue they say they are owed.
The suit alleges that “Thomson had access to these funds, which he then diverted for personal benefit and then both held and transferred to others who knew the funds were stolen but accepted them nonetheless.”
Kast Media has filed bankruptcy.
They also claim that Kast’s partners PodcastOne and LiveOne “not only sought to conceal and retain the misappropriated funds but also deliberately intended to create a state of financial desperation for Plaintiffs” in order to “pressure Cornette and Last into signing unfavorable contracts in exchange for partial reimbursement of the stolen funds.”
They also accuse Thomson’s wife, father and father-in-law of having “received substantial portions of misappropriated revenue that rightfully belonged to Plaintiffs.”
Cornette and Last state that under the agreement they were to receive 80 percent of the advertising revenue and Kast the remaining 20 percent.
They state that Thompson “began systematically withholding payments while continuing to collect and factor advertising revenue generated by Plaintiffs’ content.”
“After Plaintiffs confronted Thomson about the missing funds in May 2023, all payments ceased entirely,” says the filing.
PodcastOne and LiveOne are being sued for alleged fraudulent business practices.
The exact amount Cornette and Arcadian Vanguard LLC are suing for is not explicitly stated in the complaint. The lawsuit does reference $6.9 million in unpaid obligations to podcast creators as well as $11.3 million in liabilities against only $1.7 million in assets for Kast Media. They are seeking treble damages (three times the amount of stolen funds), along with punitive damages, attorney fees and restitution.
Since 2016, Jim Cornette and Arcadian Vanguard have produced the weekly podcasts The Jim Cornette Experience and Jim Cornette’s Drive Thru.
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