Dr. Phil McGraw has been accused of wrongful termination, failing to pay timely wages and discrimination by his former publicist.
McGraw’s former publicist Jerry Sharell filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, August 20, according to The Los Angeles Times. Sharell claimed he started working for McGraw, 75, in 2016 and was promoted to vice president of publicity three years later. When the TV personality left CBS and launched Merit Street Media in 2023, Sharell followed suit, while maintaining the same role.
Sharell claimed that he relocated to Dallas for the job, where he was allegedly “intentionally excluded” from his 20 colleagues because he’s openly “homosexual.” According to Sharell, he was singled out before being put on hiatus.
Sharell claimed that he worked for McGraw for 10 years until March, when his job allegedly went from “being treated as an employee with benefits” to one akin to an independent contractor. He claimed to have lost his benefits, including health insurance coverage, and appeared to get a 30 percent pay cut.
While Sharell says his job duties remained the same, he felt “compelled” to accept the new terms under “a great deal of duress and stress” since he was told the firm valued loyalty from its staffers.
By March, Sharall was allegedly informed that his position was put on “hiatus” due to “financial considerations.” The court documents claim that no other employees were similarly placed on a hiatus or had their salaries reduced.
McGraw, who later launched Envoy Media after Merit Street was plagued by bankruptcy claims, has not publicly addressed the accusations, though his attorney slammed Sharell’s filing. Us reached out for comment.
“Jerry Sharell was put on hiatus over the summer as is common in this industry, especially with a media start up,” lawyer Chip Babcock, who represents Envoy Media, told Us in a statement. “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.”
Babcock further claimed Sharell’s lawsuit was “an effort to avoid a pending arbitration” between the TV star and the publicity employee.
“The company and Dr. Phil will vigorously defend these claims,” he added in his statement.
Merit Street filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025, which a court ruled last October had been improperly filed. After the court defeat, McGraw founded Envoy.
