Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat Sues Former Employees Over Alleged Podcast Trade Secrets

Kevin Hart’s media company, Hartbeat, is suing two former employees over claims they used confidential company information to start a competing podcast business.

Hartbeat filed the lawsuit in February against Eric Eddings and Lesley Gwam, who worked in the company’s audio and podcast division. The company says the pair had access to sensitive business information, including financial data, partnership plans and internal strategies.

According to the lawsuit, Hartbeat claims the two employees secretly developed a rival podcast venture while still working for the company and created an investor pitch deck seeking $2 million in funding. The deck allegedly included the line: “We’ve built this before. Now we’re building it for ourselves.”

Hartbeat says the employees were fired on Jan. 30, 2026, shortly after the company learned about the pitch deck. The company later sent a cease-and-desist letter and sued to stop them from using or sharing alleged trade secrets.

The company also claims their actions hurt business in its podcast division and contributed to lower revenue and layoffs.

Eddings and Gwam deny the allegations and are fighting Hartbeat’s request for an injunction. In court filings, they argue there is no evidence they stole confidential information and say the lawsuit is an attempt to block them from starting a new business.

The former employees say the materials in their pitch deck were based on standard industry knowledge and their own prior experience. Eddings previously worked at SiriusXM, while Gwam also cited years of industry experience.

They also claim they only began exploring a new venture after Hartbeat made major cuts to its podcast division, including layoffs in December that reportedly affected about 12 employees.

Bloomberg first reported details of the legal dispute.