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Phil McGraw’s longtime publicist has filed a lawsuit against the celebrity therapist, better known as Dr. Phil, on claims of wrongful termination and discrimination.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Jerry Sharell said McGraw recruited him to continue working for him after he left CBS in 2023 and relocated to Dallas, where he planned to start his own television network, Merit Street Media.

But Sharell alleges in his complaint that he was “intentionally excluded” from the group of 20 employees who migrated to Texas because he is openly “homosexual,” and was later singled out before being put on hiatus.

The suit is the latest legal fight for McGraw. Last year his new network Merit Street filed for bankruptcy protection, a little more than a year after he launched the media startup, and then sued its distribution partner, Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Last fall, a federal bankruptcy judge ordered the network liquidated, finding evidence that McGraw deleted text messages to conceal plans favoring certain creditors over others.

At the time, a spokesperson for McGraw’s production company vigorously denied the accusation that he destroyed evidence and said he was appealing the ruling.

McGraw later launched Envoy Media, prompting accusations the bankruptcy was filed in bad faith specifically to escape creditors and fund his new venture, which he denied.

Chip Babcock, a lawyer representing Envoy Media, disputed Sharell’s allegations, calling the lawsuit “an effort to avoid a pending arbitration to which Sharell contractually agreed which he has now violated in a number of ways. The company and Dr. Phil will vigorously defend these claims,” in a statement to The Times.

“Jerry Sharell was put on hiatus over the summer as is common in this industry, especially with a media start up. He was not fired for any reason and certainly not because of his sexual orientation. These allegations against Envoy and Dr. Phil are made up out of whole cloth as he has a 25 year history of treating the LGBTQ+ communities with dignity and respect, including standing up for his guests who were attacked because of their sexual preferences.”

In his complaint, Sharell states that McGraw told him he would remain in California, saying, “you’re Hollywood.” However, the publicist said he came to the realization that “McGraw did not want him present in the building or attending meetings with TBN executives.”

Merit Street was a joint venture with the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the largest Christian-based network. Sharell said that he was given a copy of the Employee Handbook, and employees “were asked to sign a ‘Statement of Faith’ declaring their devotion to Jesus.”

Although he remained in L.A., starting in spring 2024 Sharell began traveling monthly to the Dallas headquarters of Merit Street, where he said many TBN employees now worked. During his first visit he alleged that a man known as “Pastor D” came weekly to pray with employees, leaving prayer cards on the desks of those who did not participate including that of Sharell’s.

Pastor D also led prayer services at an open house event for advertisers, prospective investors and media, that Sharell found “both disturbing and shocking, given he had never known Defendant McGraw to be overly religious,” according to the complaint.

During another visit, Sharell alleges that an IT employee noticed a photograph of Sharell while working on a staffer’s computer and said, “There’s too many of THEM around here. And it’s evil.”

While traveling on a private plane with McGraw, wife Robin McGraw and other individuals, Sharell claims he was answering emails and did not hear McGraw, who said, “Jeez, he’s gayer than a fruit basket and not listening.”

The publicist said that he worked for McGraw for 10 years until March 2026, “advancing, protecting, publicizing, protecting, and supporting” McGraw and his enterprises.

According to the suit, Sharell worked through the Merit Street bankruptcy and the subsequent establishment of Envoy Media, “receiving assignments and direction” from McGraw, dealing with executives and securing media placements among other duties.

After the company transitioned to Envoy Media, Sharell states in his lawsuit he went from being treated as an employee with benefits to being characterized as an independent contractor, losing his benefits, including health coverage and his compensation was reduced by 30%.

Sharell alleges that although his job remained the same, that he felt “compelled” to accept the new arrangement while under “a great deal of duress and stress,” during which he said he was “reminded” by Envoy Media Chief Executive Ken Solomon that McGraw valued “loyalty.”

Then, in March, Sharell received a call from Solomon informing him that his position was being put on “hiatus” due to “financial considerations,” even though no other employees were put in hiatus or had their salaries reduced.

He said he told Solomon that he felt he was “being singled out or targeted,” according to the lawsuit.

More than three dozen California legislators are calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom to exempt the state’s film and TV production incentive program from a recently approved cap on corporate tax credits, warning that without action it will be “significantly kneecapped.”

Though the state’s budget has already been approved, the legislators say a solution must be devised before the end of the year so that production companies do not lose the “full value of tax credits they earned in exchange for creating middle-class entertainment industry jobs,” according to a letter dated Friday and addressed to Newsom, State Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.

“Tax credits earned for creating jobs in motion picture and television production are not the same as tax credits provided for research and development,” the letter states. The legislation “creates short-term budget savings by reneging on commitments made to the entertainment industry and the working families who depend upon it for their livelihoods.”

The letter comes shortly after Newsom signed his final state budget as California’s governor, a $351.7-billion spending plan that includes new limitations on corporate tax credits.

The budget includes a provision that restricts the maximum tax credit companies can claim in a given year to $5 million or 50% of a company’s tax state tax liability, whichever is greater.

Hollywood industry representatives had warned the governor’s office that the new restrictions could affect the state’s production incentive program, which was just bolstered last year to an annual cap of $750 million.

The film and TV industry in Southern California has struggled to rebound from the effects of the pandemic, the dual writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023 and the exodus of production to other states and countries.

Members who voted for the budget bill had believed there was a carve-out for the film and TV tax credit program, said Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles), chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus.

“I don’t think that anyone understood what this cap was, what it did and that it effectively kneecapped and reverses the progress that we made last year,” Zbur, who co-authored last year’s bill, said in an interview. “We need to have people understand that these changes, which I think people believed were minor, are really significant and will result in significant job loss if we don’t fix them.”

The new changes to the state’s film and TV tax credit program, which included expanded eligibility for additional shows and films, came after intense lobbying from studios and industry workers, who argued that more funding was necessary to lure production back from other states and countries.

Last week, the California Film Commission said the expanded tax credit program was set to deliver $6.6 billion in direct production spending in-state and more than 34,000 cast and crew jobs across the 170 total film and TV shows that received production incentives this year.

“Doctor Who” is going through another major regeneration.

The BBC announced Wednesday that it is not moving forward with a previously announced “Doctor Who” Christmas special. Last year, the broadcaster teased a “spectacular” special episode written by showrunner Russell T Davies for the 2026 holiday.

“After careful consideration, the BBC, Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf have collectively decided not to go ahead with the previously announced Doctor Who Christmas episode,” the BBC wrote in its latest update. “This decision was not taken lightly, and we know it will be disappointing for fans, but in order to set the show up for future series, it was decided that rather than bridge the gap with a one off special, we are choosing to push forward to invest in the long-term future of the show which ensures that when the TARDIS lands once more, it does so in all its glory.”

Whovians know that the Christmas Day specials are a longstanding tradition for the sci-fi series. Previous holiday episodes have marked the first full appearance of David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor in 2005 as well as Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor in 2023.

BBC’s plan now is to “put Doctor Who out to competitive tender” in order to “[secure] the next phase of the show for future generations” — meaning they are inviting potential producers to pitch their ideas for the next era of the long-running series. This also means Davies and producer Bad Wolf are parting ways with the franchise.

“And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show,” Davies wrote in a Wednesday Instagram post, confirming his exit. “You’ll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who… but you’ll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off. So it’s worth it!”

Davies, who led the “Doctor Who” revival from its 2005 launch to 2010 before returning for his second stint in 2023, also said that he had not written a script for the previously planned Christmas special and “no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor.”

“I’m as excited as anyone to see what comes next!” Davies added. “Will they keep the theme tune? Will they lose the blue box? Will they bring back the Drahvin?! It’s all up for grabs, which is so Doctor Who, exciting and unpredictable and new!”

Bad Wolf, which worked on the two seasons starring Gatwa as the Time Lord, also on Wednesday confirmed its exit on Instagram in a post thanking fans and those that joined them on this “incredible journey through Space and Time.”

“It has been a joy and a privilege to have been at the helm of the TARDIS alongside the brilliant Russell T Davies,” read the production company’s statement. “Doctor Who is – and always will be – a show that shines light into the darkness and it has been an absolute honour to have been its torch bearer for 26 episodes with the BBC and Disney+.”

The BBC in its announcement reiterated its commitment to “Doctor Who” and its future. It also shared that a previously announced animated “Doctor Who” series for CBeebies is currently in production.

This latest “Doctor Who” update comes during a tenuous time for the franchise. The series has faced low viewership, Disney+ exiting as the show’s co-producers and Gatwa ending his run as the Doctor. The most recent season concluded with a cliffhanger, with the Fifteenth Doctor regenerating into a form resembling Rose Tyler, the companion portrayed by Billie Piper.