Kevin Hart’s Company Fired Two Black Podcast Producers, Shelved All Their Work, Then Sued Them for Leaving
No matter your feelings towards Kevin Hart, his list of accomplishments is to be admired and respected. From taking home the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy […] The post Kevin Hart’s Company Fired Two Black Podcast Producers, Shelved All Their Work, Then Sued Them for Leaving appeared first on Essence.
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INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MAY 10: Kevin Hart attends Netflix Is A Joke Festival Presents: The Roast of Kevin Hart at The Kia Forum on May 10, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Netflix) 
By Kimberly Wilson ·Updated May 12, 2026 < /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… No matter your feelings towards Kevin Hart, his list of accomplishments is to be admired and respected.
From taking home the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in 2024, to hosting the BET Awards in 2025, to earning a Golden Globe nomination for his Netflix stand-up special Acting My Age, the Philadelphia native has had no shortage of wins. And just this week, Netflix dropped the trailer for his upcoming film 72 Hours ahead of its July premiere.
It’s no wonder then that a group of peers came together this past weekend to show their admiration (and a few jabs they’ve been holding in) for the comedian during Netflix’s Kevin Hart Roast.
And though the roast may be over, unfortunately for him, the punchlines at his media company are just getting started.
A Bloomberg investigation published Sunday reveals that Hartbeat, Hart’s media company once valued at $650 million, has been quietly unraveling for the past few years. At the center of the latest controversy are two Black podcast producers, Eric Eddings and Lesley Gwam, who were hired to expand Hartbeat’s audio footprint, never given the green light to do it, and then taken to court when they tried to move on. The situation is a complicated one, particularly given that Hart has been vocal about his admiration for Black talent. As ESSENCE previously reported, Hart has credited Black women specifically as his biggest motivation, saying he admires their fight for equality and opportunity in the workplace.
Hartbeat hired Eddings and Gwam specifically to build out the company’s podcast division with projects that didn’t need Hart’s name to carry them. During their time at the company, they’d go on to develop a full slate of projects that never got a green light. When Hartbeat learned the two had started their own company (so their projects could finally see the light of day) and were raising money, the company fired them and filed a lawsuit alleging trade secret theft and breach of contract.
A judge later sided with the producers, ruling that Hartbeat failed to prove anything proprietary had actually been taken. The court described Hartbeat’s claims as “vague, ambiguous, and overly broad.” The case is still ongoing.
But the lawsuit is really just the most recent chapter in a longer collapse. Since 2024, Hartbeat has cycled through multiple rounds of layoffs, lost a string of senior executives, and watched projects stall before they ever got started.
Hart stepped in as CEO in January 2025, but according to Bloomberg’s sources, he was rarely around. After another wave of cuts in December, he addressed the remaining staff on Zoom briefly and left without answering questions.
Hart then struck a deal with Authentic Brands Group, the firm behind the estates of Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali, handing over his name, image, and likeness in exchange for equity and an undisclosed payout. His endorsement deals, which had been keeping Hartbeat afloat, went with him.
As for what comes next, current and former employees told Bloomberg they aren’t optimistic. The company has stayed quiet.
The post Kevin Hart’s Company Fired Two Black Podcast Producers, Shelved All Their Work, Then Sued Them for Leaving appeared first on Essence.
