Phil McGraw’s son Jordan is in hot water, as New York City claims he shirked the terms of their agreement to produce a pro-police reality TV show.
Entertainment Weekly reports that a new complaint reveals McGraw made the deal with former NYC mayor Eric Adams to make a series to “highlight” the NYPD’s “extraordinary work” through “exclusive access” to the department’s “operations.” Part of that agreement, the city argues, was that officials would have final say over what McGraw’s production company could show.
In December, city officials watched four rough-cut episodes of the series—tentatively titled Behind the Badge—and requested that certain scenes, including one that allegedly reveals identifying information that could pose an “imminent threat” to officers, be removed.
Another scene allegedly revealed the security code to the back door of a police precinct. According to the complaint, McGraw, 39, ignored the notes and pressed forward to pursue distribution, despite not obscuring the identities of plainclothes officers, victims, or witnesses who hadn’t consented to be on camera.
The series also portrayed officers negatively, the complaint alleges, in violation of the city’s agreement with McGraw.
The Daily Beast has reached out to a representative for McGraw for comment.
The youngest child of TV personality Dr. Phil and his wife Robin McGraw is now being challenged by Zohran Mamdani’s administration with the new complaint, which alleges that McGraw “could self-publish the footage at any time” despite not yet finding distribution for the police series.
According to ABC News, a lawyer for McGraw said McGraw Media has and will continue to “work with the city to address the edits requested” and that the city ultimately jumped the gun with its complaint, “as publication of any programming was not imminent.” He also argued that the move was an unconstitutional prior restraint.
Jordan, once a member of alt-rock band Stars in Stereo before launching a solo singing career and touring with the Jonas Brothers, is new to producing reality TV—unlike older brother Jay McGraw, 46, who co-founded Stage 29 Productions with his famous father and acts as the company’s president and CEO.
The younger McGraw is married to former reality star Morgan Stewart, with whom he shares a 5-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.
