TMZ reported that podcast company Cadence13 and Chris Hardwick, of the ID10T website, are having a legal battle involving money. It appears that TMZ has both sides of the situation.
According to TMZ, Cadence13 has filed a lawsuit against Chris Hardwick. Cadence13 claims that Chris Hardwick bowed out of a deal to produce a weekly podcast and failed to pay back the rest of his $1 million cash advance.
It appears that Chris Hardwick signed a two-year deal in 2018 to create four podcasts per month. Cadence13 claims that Chris Hardwick stopped making new episodes of the podcast in June of 2018.
The timing coincides with a Medium post written by Chloe Dykstra in which she reveals the emotional and sexual abuse she experienced from someone she used to date.
She didn’t name the person in her Medium article, but described the person as someone who was 20 years her senior and who went from being a “podcaster to a powerhouse CEO of his own company.” That description could fit Chris Hardwick.
Cadence13 claims that it paid Chris Hardwick $1 million in advances, and says that he has not paid back the full amount after stopping his ID10T podcast. It appears that Cadence13 has recouped about $394K in ad revenue, and that they are suing Chris Hardwick for the remaining $606K.
A lawyer for Chris Hardwick contacted TMZ. The lawyer claims that Cadence13 owes Chris Hardwick $3 million and filing their lawsuit is their attempt to try and avoid fulfilling their obligations to pay him. The lawyer also claims that Chris Hardwick has delivered over 30 podcast episodes since October of 2018 and hasn’t been paid a dime.
In addition, the lawyer for Chris Hardwick says that the law firm representing Cadence13 in its lawsuit is the same one that “conducted a comprehensive investigation and exonerated Chris of the baseless allegations of (emotional and sexual abuse) referenced in the filing.” The lawyer says Chris Hardwick and his team will “take all appropriate steps to recover the millions of dollars which C13 contractually owes him.”