Kast Media Lawsuit: Cornette, Weiss, and Bankruptcy Recovery

The Kast Media lawsuit landscape includes at least two civil cases filed by podcasters over unpaid advertising revenue, alongside a Chapter 11 bankruptcy the company filed in March 2024. The first suit, by host Alyx Weiss, was resolved privately in late 2024. The second, filed in January 2025 by wrestling commentator Jim Cornette’s company Arcadian Vanguard, named founder Colin Thomson, members of his family, and the podcast companies PodcastOne and LiveOne, and its outcome has not been publicly reported. A bankruptcy court confirmed Kast’s reorganization plan in June 2025, leaving unsecured creditors with roughly four cents on the dollar in cash or equity in the reorganized company.¹

Why Creators Weren’t Being Paid

Kast Media sold advertising on its podcasters’ shows and split the revenue, with creators typically receiving 80% and the network keeping 20%.²³⁴ By February 2023, Kast had stopped paying creators their share.⁵ Reported individual debts ran from five figures into six and seven figures.⁶

In September 2023, Theo Von released a video titled “This Man Defrauded Our Podcast,” viewed more than a million times, in which he accused Thomson by name and alleged roughly $4 million in total advertising fees had been withheld from various podcasters.⁷⁸ Thomson had offered creators a settlement: one-third of what they were owed in cash, one-third in promissory notes, and one-third in stock in PodcastOne, conditioned on signing multi-year deals at reduced revenue shares as low as 60%.⁵ Several high-profile creators rejected it.

The Alyx Weiss Lawsuit

Podcast host Alyx Weiss, who hosted Revealing Your Secrets, filed the first known lawsuit against Kast Media on September 13, 2023, in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. After her show was canceled in 2022, she and Kast had reached a mutual termination agreement calling for the company to pay her $68,750 in three installments. The suit alleged Kast never paid any of it, and that Thomson tried to condition the payments on her signing a non-disclosure agreement tied to the pending PodcastOne acquisition, which she refused.⁹

The case was terminated on August 27, 2024, and the plaintiff filed a stipulation to dismiss on November 8, 2024. The terms of any resolution were not made public.¹⁰

The Cornette and Arcadian Vanguard Lawsuit

On January 31, 2025, Jim Cornette and his business partner Brian Last, through their company Arcadian Vanguard LLC, filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The complaint reached beyond Kast Media and named Colin Thomson, his wife Christine Thomson, his father Rod Thomson, his father-in-law Matthew Yu, PodcastOne, and LiveOne.¹¹¹²

The complaint alleged that Thomson systematically misappropriated the 80% share of ad revenue belonging to Cornette and Last, diverting funds to personal accounts, family members, and personal purchases including Cartier jewelry, Tesla and Mercedes vehicles, and luxury hotel suites. It cited a $176,000 wire transfer to Christine Thomson and alleged that creator revenue was “factored,” meaning sold to third-party lenders including United Capital Funding and CapChase, without creator knowledge or consent.¹¹¹²

The suit also accused PodcastOne and LiveOne of conspiring with Thomson between March and September 2023 to structure transactions that let him avoid paying podcasters while the two public companies acquired the shows at a discount. The complaint cited May 30, 2023, emails from LiveOne CEO Rob Ellin pressing for rapid movement of shows, and said PodcastOne’s CFO testified that the urgency was driven by an impending public offering.¹³ The plaintiffs sought treble damages under California Penal Code § 496(c), which allows triple recovery for the receipt of stolen property, along with punitive damages, restitution, and injunctive relief.¹² The outcome of the case has not been publicly reported.

What the Bankruptcy Revealed

Kast Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 13, 2024, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, under Subchapter V, a track designed for small businesses. The case was assigned to Judge Martin R. Barash (case number 1:24-bk-10396).¹⁴ The company reported about $6.4 million in liabilities against roughly $700,000 in assets.³

Thomson was deposed on August 1, 2024, as Kast’s corporate representative. According to a creditor’s filing, he answered “I don’t know” roughly 120 times to questions about company business and finances. The deposition described what the creditors called “luxury purchases” during the period creators went unpaid, including a custom home and multiple vacations. The company reportedly spent $539,864.50 on travel in 2022 alone, which Thomson could not explain in specifics, and he admitted selling a company-owned Mercedes G Wagon and keeping the proceeds personally.⁴

The deposition also surfaced at least $3 million in general unsecured claims that had not been listed in Kast’s bankruptcy schedules. If included, total unsecured debt would exceed $9.5 million, which creditors argued would push the case past Subchapter V’s then-applicable $7.5 million debt ceiling.⁴

What Creators Were Owed

The largest scheduled debts in the bankruptcy were owed to podcast creators:

Jess and Evan Ambrose (Your Mom & Dad): $478,185
Theo Von (This Past Weekend): $456,399
Jason and Carissa Weiser / Bardic Enterprises (Myths & Legends): $381,666
Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Podcast): $293,333
Nick Viall (The Viall Files): $257,387
The John Campea Show: $88,950
Richard Maclean Smith (Unexplained): $70,513
Alyx Weiss (Revealing Your Secrets): $68,750³

Kast also owed $71,578 to the IRS and smaller amounts to vendors including Adswizz, Chartable, and Pineapple Street Studios.³ Separately, Brendan Schaub was paid the full $1.6 million he was owed by PodcastOne and LiveOne in exchange for joining PodcastOne; LiveOne borrowed $1.7 million from the lender CapChase to finance that payout. No other creator appears to have received comparable treatment.⁵

What Creators Actually Recovered

Kast Media filed its proposed reorganization plan on June 11, 2024. The plan gave unsecured creditors — about 60 claims totaling roughly $6.15 million — a choice between two options: a pro rata share of $230,000 in cash spread over five years, which worked out to roughly four cents on the dollar with total payouts capped at $236,720; or converting the claim into equity in the reorganized company, with the shares coming from Thomson’s personal stake.¹⁵⁴ Creditors who took no action within 30 days were automatically assigned the cash option.¹⁶

Arcadian Vanguard objected, arguing the plan was filed in bad faith, that the liquidation analysis failed to account for potential claims against Thomson personally, and that the unscheduled debts should disqualify Kast from Subchapter V altogether.⁴ The plan countered that an outright liquidation would leave creditors with nothing.¹⁵ A California bankruptcy court confirmed the plan in early June 2025, with approximately 85% of creditors voting in favor by both claim value and claimant count.¹

The confirmed plan addresses the bankruptcy estate’s obligations only. It does not resolve the separate Arcadian Vanguard state-court suit against Thomson personally, his family members, PodcastOne, and LiveOne, whose outcome remains unreported.

Where Kast Media Stands Now

As part of the confirmed plan, Kast Media hired Matty Staudt as CEO in June 2025. Colin Thomson moved to the title of Chief Creative Officer and no longer manages daily operations, though both he and Staudt hold equity in the reorganized company. Staudt says the company is operating debt-free and is current on all creator payments.¹⁷

1
Bloomberg Law. Kast Media Chapter 11 Plan Confirmed With About 85% Approval
2
Slam Wrestling. Cornette, Last Suing for Ad Revenue
3
Inside Radio. Millions Owed to Podcasters as Kast Media Files for Bankruptcy
4
Podnews. Arcadian Vanguard Objection to Subchapter V Plan
5
Billboard. PodcastOne Paid Brendan Schaub but Other Kast Creators Stiffed
6
The Verge. Podcast Network Kast Media Faces Growing Creator Revolt Over Missing Payments
7
Billboard. PodcastOne IPO, Theo Von, Kast Media
8
Mediaite. Theo Von Blasts Podcast Network He Says Stole His Ad Revenue
9
Inside Radio. Podcaster Whose Show Was Axed for Being Too Racy Sues Kast Media for Missed Payments
10
PACER Monitor. Ayydubs, LLC et al v. Kast Media, Inc. et al
11
Wrestling Inc. Details Behind Jim Cornette’s Lawsuit Against Podcast Network
12
Podnews. Complaint for Damages and Injunctive Relief
13
411Mania. Jim Cornette Files Lawsuit Over Ad Revenue for Podcasts
14
Law360. Podcast Network Hits Ch. 11 With Millions in Creator Claims
15
Podcast News Daily. Kast Media’s Reorg Plan Offers Creditors Either Equity or a Fraction of What They’re Owed
16
Podcast News Daily. Kast Media Creditors Face Choice as Reorganization Plan Gets Nod From Bankruptcy Court
17
Inside Radio. Radio Vet Matty Staudt Is Leading Podcast Company’s Second Act