Last year, Von claimed Kast owed over $4 million in unpaid fees, with his own share amounting to a six-figure sum. Now, that same production company that went viral last year after Theo Von’s allegations has now filed for bankruptcy.
Background and Allegations
Colin Thomson founded Kast in 2016, with LiveOne seeking to acquire its assets in May this year. However, prior to this acquisition, creators, including Von, alleged delayed payments. Despite LiveOne’s offer to settle debts with stock, Von declined.
We’ve covered the initial allegation here. Those interested in a summary here’s the original post from X last year.
Just wanted to warn folks about @colinpthomson. This man defrauded our podcast and others. Thank you all for your support! pic.twitter.com/wh8gLIE0Bn
— Theo Von (@TheoVon) September 6, 2023
Theo Von starts with an allegation that they’ve been defrauded, complete with a picture of the man being accused, Colin Thomson.
Von states that he doesn’t actually care about the money he lost (he estimates to be around six figures for his company but counting other podcasters, the value was around the millions) but instead decided to be content with exposing the company.
You can’t get me to shut up, man… You F***ed with the wrong rat, I have a voice.
Other Podcasters’ Claims
Skateboarder and podcast host Jason Ellis said on Instagram that he was also owed money in addition to talking about his program and the one he hosts with Tony Hawk.
Fellow comedians Bryan Callen and Brendan Schaub, who voiced their opinions, said that Kast owed their production firm between $1.5 (£1,178,226) and $1.6 million (£1,256,774).
Another comedian Whitney Cummings also believes the company owes her $350,000 (£274,919) from ad sponsorships but this is just a rough estimate and could be more.
Hosts Jim Cornette and Brian Last, meantime, have delved into the story in a multi-part podcast series and assert that they are also due money. Podcaster Alyx Weiss, also known as Ayydubs, filed a complaint yesterday, reiterating the earlier claims.
According to the lawsuit, Kast and her agreed to a two-year contract in September 2021 for an ultimate payment of $550,000 (£432,016), to be paid in equal monthly installments. However, Kast is said to have stopped making the payments in June 2022.
Alyx Weiss, known as Ayydubs, filed a lawsuit against Kast, citing breaches of contract and unpaid fees amounting to $68,750. The lawyers for KAST media did not respond for comment but according to the lawsuit, KAST wanted to terminate her contract, because the content Weiss is known for is “vulgar”.
If she agreed she would have received 3 months of monthly installments. She claims to have agreed to the deal but still did not receive enough money and is allegedly still owed $68k (£53,412).
CEO and Thomson’s Response
From the perspective of Thomson and LiveONE CEO Rob Ellin, their story is of an independent podcast network struggling through challenging times.
Ellin did address Theo Von’s allegations and clarified that they did offer him a new deal that guaranteed a minimum $1 Million guaranteed payment but with an undisclosed amount to be in Podcast One Stock
We’re big fans of Theo’s and would have loved to have him on our network
PodcastONE a division of LiveONE did launch but their stock prices dropped by almost 50% within days of opening. Thomson claimed that he decreased his compensation and let go of team members in reaction to the worsening economic climate.
In the end, he explained, the idea was for LiveOne to get in touch with some of the Kast podcasters and ask them to join the PodcastOne roster.
In exchange for the podcasters forgiving Kast’s prior obligations, LiveOne would offer a mix of cash and stock to entice them to take the risk.
Both Ellin and Thomson were hopeful that their stock situation would get better, but ultimately they went through financial trouble in 2024.
This was a salvageable situation, and I hope it still is
Ongoing Developments
Kast Media has filed for bankruptcy in California. They had $700,000 (£549,839) in total assets and more than $6.3 million (£4,948,551) in liabilities as of January 31. This is according to the balance sheet included in the filing.
Kast now owes Theo Von’s company $456,398 (£358,493) with other debt listed and described as podcast related content, subscription services, and legal services.
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