NEW YORK (AP) — New York City has ended its legal fight with producer Jordan McGraw, the son of TV’s “Dr. Phil” McGraw, reaching a settlement Friday that clears the way for the release of a reality show he’s making about the New York Police Department.
Under the agreement, the city will retain editorial control over the show, titled “Behind the Badge," after accusing Jordan McGraw and his production company, McGraw Media, of trying to wrest it away.
McGraw Media will provide “rough cuts” of episodes to the NYPD and will incorporate its edits into the finished version for the show, hosted by “Dr. Phil,” a clinical psychologist turned TV personality.
McGraw Media agreed to remove all content from the documentary-style series that the department designates as inaccurate or confidential, that the NYPD is legally prohibited from releasing, that reveals investigatory techniques or that would otherwise compromise public safety or the public trust.
It also agreed to remove any content that the NYPD flags as portraying the city or the department in a negative light.
A message seeking comment was left for a lawyer for Jordan McGraw and McGraw Media.
The lawyer, Chip Babcock, has previously said that the city's lawsuit had come as a surprise “as publication of any programming was not imminent” and that McGraw Media “had worked with the city to address the edits requested” and was willing to continue to do so.
The city sued Jordan McGraw and McGraw Media in January, accusing them of violating an agreement that had allowed them special behind-the-scenes access to the nation’s largest police force and “risking immediate and irreparable harm” to the city. The city obtained a court order blocking them from selling or disseminating any footage from "Behind the Badge.”
Episode “rough cuts” provided to the city by McGraw’s company, McGraw Media, were mostly “unedited footage” dumps and included material not allowed under McGraw’s production agreement with the city, such as discussions of sensitive operations and the identities of undercover officers, crime victims and witnesses, the lawsuit said.
Among other things, the lawsuit said, the show contained footage of an officer inputting a security code at a police station entrance, discussions of encrypted police communications and the unblurred faces of people who were arrested by police but who have not yet been tried or convicted of crimes.
New York City inked a three-year contract with McGraw Media on “Behind the Badge” in April 2025. It called for McGraw Media to produce up to 17 episodes per year, but gave the city the right to opt out.
The city abandoned “Behind the Badge” late last year, hours before Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office, after saying that it had expressed concerns to McGraw about the show’s quality and content. According to the lawsuit, McGraw Media indicated that it would not accept any of the city’s edits and that it intended to distribute the flagged material and was looking for a buyer to air the show.
Episodes were slated to air on Phil McGraw’s MeritTV cable and streaming channels, where he’d previously done segments featuring the police department.
A lawyer for the city had told a judge in a letter Thursday that the city and McGraw Media had “agreed to a framework" to attempt to resolve the matter "through a collaborative effort to review rough cuts of nine episodes.”
According to the settlement agreement, McGraw Media has already edited the first four episodes to the city's specifications. The city expects to provide feedback on the fifth and sixth episodes by next week and the last three episodes by April 16, the agreement said.
