Kast Media left its podcasters unpaid for months; Theo Von says the debts top $4 million

Kast Media, founded in 2016 in Santa Monica by Colin Thomson, grew into a top-ten podcast network — No. 10 in Edison Research's reach rankings as recently as December 2022 — by signing creators to ad-sales deals. Then the payments stopped. Whitney Cummings, who signed a multiyear partnership in December 2021 and left in June 2023, says Kast owes her at least $350,000. Theo Von, Logan Paul, Jason Ellis and Tony Hawk all left the network. Michael Ojibway of Invisible Choir said his very first check from Kast arrived late — and so did every payment that followed.

On September 6, 2023, Theo Von posted a roughly ten-minute YouTube video, 'This Man Defrauded Our Podcast', viewed over 1.5 million times, alleging Kast Media owes him and a group of other creators over $4 million for ads served on their shows. Von said he personally knew of six creators owed between $600,000 and $1.5 million each. Scott Porch of Big IP Media says Kast owes him over $150,000. Jason Ellis, half of Hawk vs Wolf with Tony Hawk, called the two-year deal 'one of my biggest regrets in podcasting' and confirmed the duo is 'not getting any money back'.

Kast's answer was not payment but conversion: CEO Colin Thomson offered creators partial cash plus PodcastOne shares on condition they move their shows to PodcastOne under a proposed IP acquisition. The May press release announcing the LiveOne letter of intent went out while the LOI was non-binding and, creators say, without their consent. After Von's video, two days before the Nasdaq debut, PodcastOne shares slid from $8 to $4 and then to $2.78 by publication. Kast blamed this year's soft ad market; layoffs had already hit the company.

Six creators reportedly owed $600K-$1.5M each; Whitney Cummings says $350K+; PodcastOne shares slid from $8 to $2.78 after listing

Kast sold multiyear advertising partnerships against inventory it could no longer pay for when the ad market softened.

Payments ran late from the very first invoice, and the company built no cash buffer behind its commitments.

Instead of paying its creditors, Thomson offered partial cash plus PodcastOne stock conditional on signing shows away — turning creditors into conscripts.

The LiveOne letter of intent was announced as a done deal while being non-binding and without the creators' consent, burning the trust the rescue depended on.

A network built on other people's audiences cannot afford to stiff them. Converting unpaid debts into equity lock-ins turned a cash crunch into a reputation collapse.

The roster scattered: Theo Von had already gone to Rooster Teeth in March, Hawk vs Wolf signed with Malka Media, Big IP Media moved to Libsyn's AdvertiseCast, and Jim Cornette joined Rhapsody Voices — a new network founded by Kast's own departing chief business officer Mike Jensen. Ellis confirmed the owed money was not coming back. Recovery of the millions remained unresolved at publication; the network that ranked No. 10 in December 2022 was left without its biggest names.