ID10T

Cadence13 and Chris Hardwick are in a Legal Battle

~ jen

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.”

Nerdist Podcast Rebranded as ID10T

~ jen

Earlier this month, Chris Hardwick announced the end of an era for Nerdist podcast. It has been rebranded as ID10T with Chris Hardwick, and will no longer be affiliated with Nerdist Industries. Instead, the ID10T with Chris Hardwick podcast will become part of the ID10T company that Chris Hardwick launched to sell collectible goods and host live events.

There is a rather lengthy description of ID10T with Chris Hardwick on iTunes:

I am Chris Hardwick. This podcast used to be called Nerdist. Now it is not. It is still basically just me talking about stuff and things with my two nerdy friends Jonah Ray and Matt Mira when they’re available, and usually someone more famous and smarter than all of us.

Swearing is fun, so we still do that occasionally. I hope you like this new iteration which is the same as before, but if a name hangs you up unhealthily I’m sure you will not hesitate to unfurl your rage not only in the ‘reviews’ section but also now on all the various social media platforms that have popped up since we started in 2010, effectively murdering blogs.

Hollywood Reporter interviewed Chris Hardwick about the rebrand. The Nerdist Podcast launched in February of 2010 and became the basis for Nerdist Industries, which built up a network of podcasts (and more). Nerdist Industries sold to Legendary Entertainment in 2012.

Chris Hardwick’s contract with Legendary Entertainment expired in 2017. He retains full ownership of The Nerdist Podcast and its library of episodes. But, Legendary Entertainment owns the name Nerdist. This explains the need for rebranding the podcast’s name, while keeping the content and style listeners have been enjoying.

The new name, ID10T, looked familiar to me. The About page on the ID10T company website reminded me of the meaning. “ID10T is a joke IT code that essentially means ‘user error’” You can probably work out how this code would be pronounced.