Jordan McGraw, the son of TV personality Phillip “Dr. Phil” McGraw, has been sued by New York City over a pro-police reality show.
According to the complaint filed on Wednesday in New York state court and reviewed by Entertainment Weekly, the younger McGraw reached a deal with Eric Adams, the city’s former mayor, in April 2025 to produce a reality series called Behind the Badge. The contract granted McGraw’s production company, McGraw Media, “exclusive access to film NYPD operations” to “highlight” the department’s “extraordinary work.”
One of the contract’s key provisions was guaranteeing the city both the ability to review rough cuts of episodes and the discretionary power to prohibit certain scenes and details from air. But the lawsuit alleges that McGraw and his company have disregarded that obligation, “risking immediate and irreparable harm to the city, its employees, and the public at large.”
The city alleges breach of contract and trademark infringement, and seeks a court order to block distribution of the series.
Kevin Winter/ACMA/Getty
Phil McGraw and Jordan McGraw in 2008
The acrimony between the city and McGraw Media stems from an incident in December, in which city officials say four episodes of the series were previewed to them. After they flagged certain content to be removed, McGraw Media ignored, pressing on toward distribution.
The complaint claims that the contract between the city and McGraw Media granted the former party “exclusive” discretionary power to make such cuts. The provided reasons why the city would request such cuts range from content that is deemed “inaccurate” or “confidential,” to content that may compromise the safety of officers or private citizens, to content that “portrays the City or the NYPD in a negative light.”
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for the New York City Mayor’s office, the NYPD, and Jordan McGraw for comment.
The biggest issue raised came from one episode that the complaint alleges poses an “imminent threat” to officers’ lives by not properly obscuring the names, faces, and identities of undercover and plainclothes officers. Other scenes divulged the identities of private citizens who did not consent to being filmed.
A rough cut of another episode allegedly included footage of an officer inputting the security code to the back entrance of a police precinct.
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The complaint filed by the office of Adams’ successor, Zohran Mamdani, notes that McGraw Media is still seeking distribution for the series, and even if the sale is unsuccessful, the company “could self-publish the footage at any time.”
Jordan McGraw, 39, is Dr. Phil’s youngest son with wife Robin Jo Jameson. Jordan previously played in the rock band Stars in Stereo before launching a solo music career, collaborating with artists like The Jonas Brothers and Modern Family star Sarah Hyland. In 2020, he married reality star Morgan Stewart, with whom he now shares two children.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly