Dr. Phil was America's best-known celebrity therapist. How did his media network crash?

• Dr. Phil’s Merit Street Media filed for bankruptcy in July 2025, following clashes with a distributor and a decline in the syndicated TV market.
• A federal judge ordered the network liquidated, finding evidence Phillip McGraw deleted text messages to conceal plans favoring certain creditors over others.
• McGraw has since launched Envoy Media, prompting accusations the bankruptcy was filed in bad faith specifically to escape creditors and fund his new venture, which he denies.

It was not a good day for Dr. Phil.

Phillip McGraw, the genial celebrity psychologist who spent a career calling out the behavior of others and doling out zingers, found himself upbraided by a bankruptcy judge.

Merit Street Media, McGraw’s new network, had filed for bankruptcy protection in July, a little more than a year after he launched the media startup, and then sued its distribution partner, Trinity Broadcasting Network.

During a nearly three-hour hearing in Dallas last month, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Scott Everett said that he’d “never seen a case” like the Chapter 11 filing McGraw’s company was attempting.

Everett cited evidence indicating McGraw had “violated” a court order by deleting “unflattering” text messages that allegedly described his plan to use the bankruptcy to “wipe out” creditor claims.

“What makes this case unique, unfortunately, is that it has been plagued with the attempted destruction of relevant evidence and less than truthful testimony by some of the key players,” said Everett, alluding to McGraw and his associates in the case.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2025-11-24/dr-phil-celebrity-mcgraw-therapist-bankruptcy-oprah-winfrey