Kevin Hart's Once-$650M Company Is Imploding With Layoffs, Lawsuits and Absentee Leadership Claims

Kevin Hart's Hartbeat, the media company once valued at about $650 million (£482 million), is facing fresh scrutiny after a Los Angeles judge reportedly refused to force a legal dispute involving two former Black podcast executives into private arbitration.

The ruling would keep the dispute in public court, adding to a string of setbacks for the business, including layoffs, executive departures and reports that Hart became increasingly removed from its day-to-day operations.

The news came after Hartbeat filed suit in February 2026 against Eric Eddings and Lesley Gwam, alleging breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.

The pair, hired to help build an audio division that did not rely on Hart's involvement, were fired in January 2026 after the company said it discovered they had created and circulated an investor pitch deck seeking $2 million (£1.5 million) for a competing venture.

Eddings and Gwam have denied misappropriating Hartbeat's confidential information, arguing that their expertise and pitch drew on industry knowledge acquired before and during their careers in audio.

Hartbeat Lawsuits and Layoffs Fuel Questions Over Company's Future

Hartbeat took its current form in 2022 when Hart combined Laugh Out Loud and HartBeat Productions, while private equity firm Abry Partners invested $100 million (£74.2 million) for a 15% stake in a deal valuing the company at about $650 million (£482 million).

Its strategy spanned film and television, digital video, advertising and audio, with relationships including Netflix, SiriusXM and Audible, and advertisers including Lyft, Procter & Gamble and DraftKings.

The broader ambition was for Hart's celebrity to open doors while the company developed intellectual property and businesses capable of succeeding without requiring him to appear in every project. Instead, reports suggest Hartbeat has struggled to separate the celebrity from the enterprise.

As Hollywood spending contracted, Hartbeat began shrinking. Its New York office closed, senior executives departed, and roughly 20 employees, nearly a quarter of its then-workforce, were laid off before Thanksgiving 2024.

Hart became CEO in January 2025, but employees later told the Los Angeles Times that he sometimes went weeks without appearing at the office, leaving daily operations to others.

Then came more cuts. In December 2025, Hartbeat reportedly eliminated about a dozen positions and later dismissed scripted television executives Tiffany Brown and Mike Stein, despite projects in development including a Barbershop series and another season of the animated series Lil Kev.

Film and TV development slowed, while employees described cancelled staff meetings and podcast projects that failed to move forward.

One of the most significant disputes involves Eddings and Gwam. Hartbeat initially secured a temporary restraining order, but its bid for a broader preliminary injunction was rejected after the court found the company had not sufficiently identified the confidential information or trade secrets it alleged were being misused.

The court described parts of Hartbeat's request as 'vague, ambiguous, and overly broad'. The lawsuit remains ongoing. The company was reportedly dealt another legal setback in August 2026 when a Los Angeles judge denied Hartbeat's effort to move the dispute into private arbitration.

According to the court documents cited in the report, the former employees made a 'persuasive showing' that the arbitration provisions were unconscionable and unenforceable, meaning the dispute would remain in public court.

Kevin Hart's $650M (£482M) Hartbeat Faces Questions After Authentic Deal

Meanwhile, Hart has made a significant move outside Hartbeat. In January, he entered a partnership with Authentic Brands Group, the company whose portfolio includes brands associated with Muhammad Ali, Shaquille O'Neal and David Beckham.

Hart received an undisclosed payment and equity in Authentic while licensing his name, image and likeness to the company. The arrangement also gave him money to buy out Abry over time, while endorsement deals that once formed a major part of Hartbeat's business moved to Authentic.

The shift has led some employees and observers to question whether Hartbeat's original ambitions are being scaled back as Hart moves one of its most valuable assets, his own commercial brand, elsewhere.

Hart has publicly pushed back on suggestions that the company is winding down, characterising its restructuring as an effort to reduce a business that had grown too large rather than shut it down.

Still, the combination of layoffs, stalled projects and a public legal fight with two former podcast executives has raised fresh questions over whether Hartbeat can fulfil its original ambition of thriving without Hart at the centre of everything.

Whether the company can rebuild momentum or whether this marks the beginning of a longer retrenchment is now the key question hanging over Hart's once-$650 million (£482 million) venture.

The latest arbitration ruling has not been independently verified by IBTimes UK beyond the cited court documents, while allegations made by Hartbeat, Eddings and Gwam remain contested as the litigation continues.