Embattled Buckeye beat writers face new allegations of pilfering pay from players
Jeremy Birmingham and Austin Ward already admitted to skimming company sponsorship and advertising money meant for athletes who appeared on their podcast, according to the latest court filing.
A scandal that only seems possible on the Ohio State football beat erupted late last week.
“THE Media,” a somewhat mysterious albeit well-financed newcomer to the beat, fired longtime program insiders Austin Ward and Jeremy Birmingham for cause on March 31.
However, the news didn’t break until April 4th, when the duo’s former co-worker Doug Lesmerises sent a text message blast to company subscribers announcing the news.
The firings on their own would have been a massive story in the Buckeye Cinematic Universe.
Birmingham and Ward have mustered large followings during the years on the beat, and they’ve enjoyed almost unrivaled access to the upper echelons of the Buckeye football program under head coach Ryan Day.
But, in typical Buckeye beat fashion, it didn’t take long for things to get weird.
“TheOracle,” an anonymous poster on the Eleven Warriors forum who had showcased in-depth knowledge of the sports media industry in the past, reappeared from a months-long hiatus to dish the dirt that led to Birm and Ward’s firing:
Allegedly stealing from your employer is one thing. Allegedly stealing from an All-American, national champion safety in Caleb Downs would make Birmingham and Ward akin to Osama bin Laden among Buckeye fans.
And no, that’s not an understatement.
But even with The Oracle’s history, which, it must be said, included past praise of Birmingham and Ward, it was still one anonymous post on the internet from someone who admitted they had a grudge.
Birmingham and Ward, for their part, wasted little time defending themselves. They both explicitly denied stealing Name, Image, and Likeness money from Downs.
Ward issued a statement on Twitter hours after the news broke:
Ward’s statement jibed with a similar declaration from the owner of AXIA TIME, the watch company at the heart of the sponsorship deal that blew up in such public fashion.
But Ward didn’t stop there. He then took to the forum of Rivals, where he was still gainfully employed, and alleged that THE Media’s ownership no longer wanted to fund THE Podcast:
It has been clear for quite some time that the ownership did not want to continue funding the project. This appears to be nothing more than a convenient excuse and an opportunity to paint us villains [sic] when the company has been in breach of its contract with us repeatedly.
Birm and Ward’s voiceferous denials were seemingly aided when Stephen Steen, a pseudonymous Twitter user, posted THE Media’s original court filing against Birmingham and Ward.
The filing read like a standard business dispute among disgruntled partners and lacked any specific allegations of theft from Downs.
The lack of specifics in the original filing led to many Ohio State fans exonerating Birm and Ward. Here’s but one example:
Despite their public firings, Birm and Ward have been carrying on as if it’s business as usual at Rivals, with Ward posting from Ohio State’s Student Appreciation Day a day after the firing.
However… this public divorce is far, far from over.
On Tuesday, THE Media amended its complaint against its former employees.
THE Media alleges that Birmingham and Ward misappropriated company funds intended for athletes who appeared on their podcast and that the duo admitted to the scheme, with Birmingham already doing so in writing.
THE Media also alleges that Birm, after repeated warnings not to do so, accessed his company email after his firing in an attempt to cover the duo’s tracks and possibly glean information about the forthcoming lawsuit against him.
THE Media also alleges that Ward defamed the company by posting that it had breached its contract “repeatedly” and claiming ownership no longer wanted to fund the project.
You can read the entire lawsuit as obtained by The Rooster, below:
Please note the file omits pages listing Birmingham and Ward’s private addresses, though it also includes the listed exhibits attached to the lawsuit.
Things we learned in the latest filing against Birmingham and Ward…
The amended lawsuit is much more devastating in its allegations than the original filing.
While Birmingham and Ward are considered innocent until proven guilty, the scope and details of the new allegations can’t be ignored.
THE Media hits Birmingham and Ward with three shared counts, with two additional counts for Birmingham and one for Ward.
Breach of contract, civil theft, unjust enrichment, computer trespass (against Birmingham), computer invasion of privacy (against Birmingham) and defamation (against Ward).
The suit also seeks recompensation for attorney fees and expenses.
The alleged sponsorship scheme dates back to 2022 at the inception of the company.
“Defendants have accepted unauthorized and unapproved advertisements and sponsorships to be featured in THE Podcast. Upon information and belief, further supported by the written disclosures since the filing of this case, the Defendants’ course of conduct effectively dates back to their initial engagement in 2022.”
Birmingham and Ward admitted in writing to skimming advertisement and sponsorship money from the company's till.
“Despite public statements to the contrary, Defendants have conceded to THE Media, in writing, that Defendants accepted advertising and/or sponsorships that included compensation that was not remitted to THE Media.”
Birmingham admitted in writing that he and Ward retained advertising money “meant for paying players that appear on those shows with us.”
“In another contradiction to Ward’s public statements and claims and in contravention of their promises to THE Media, Birmingham acknowledged in writing that Defendants have, in fact, retained advertising funds or sponsorship funds that were positioned to the Company as exclusively intended for compensation for athletes appearing on THE Media. Specifically, Birmingham conceded in writing that certain “advertisers paid Austin Ward, who—after paying players that appear on those shows with us—paid 1/3 of the remaining amounts to himself, [unnamed third-party name], and me.”
Ward “conceded” that he and Birmingham skimmed money intended for players.
“Ward has also conceded that Defendants retained advertising and/or sponsorship funds that were exclusively intended as athlete compensation.”
Ward generated an invoice for AXIAN TIME a mere 32 minutes after he had been fired and barred from representing the company in any way.
“After learning of their termination and the cease and desist instruction, this lawsuit, and the allegations that they had not disclosed Unauthorized Sponsor 1 to THE Media’s management, Defendants reacted rapidly. Austin Ward, without authorization or approval (and in direct contravention of the cease and desist notice), quickly generated an invoice on behalf of an entity other than THE Media to Unauthorized Sponsor 1, which was hastily sent via email to Unauthorized Sponsor 1 at approximately 5:04 p.m. Eastern time on March 31.”
Birmingham accessed his company email, potentially looking for information about the lawsuit, despite numerous warnings not to do so, after his firing.
"On April 5, 2025, THE Media notified the Defendants of the intrusion and, although making clear it was not accusing them of being the intruders, warned them against such behaviors.
“Through its investigation, THE Media learned that, on or about April 2, 2025, Birmingham, without authorization from THE Media, accessed an e-mail account used by THE Media (“THE Media E-mail Account.”).”
“Upon information and belief, Birmingham accessed THE Media E-mail Account for the purpose of reviewing THE Media’s legal, financial, or personnel information and potentially information regarding this lawsuit.”
Birmingham and Ward declined an opportunity to make the company whole.
“THE Media gave Defendants a chance to come clean by requesting an accounting and providing Defendants an opportunity for restitution, which Defendants have declined. Instead, they have sought to mitigate, conceal, or justify their behaviors.”
Birmingham and Ward made good money without the alleged theft!
“THE Media paid each Defendant compensation well above market rate and, upon information and belief, more than each Defendant previously was paid for similar work. Defendants were paid more than most of their peer journalists in a similar space.”
THE Media paid high-priced lawyers to free Birm from a non-compete clause with his former employer, On3:
“THE Media provided additional compensation and support to Birmingham. For instance, when his former employer sued Birmingham for breach of employment agreement, in addition to retaining sophisticated counsel to represent the Company’s interests, THE Media retained a law firm ranked in the National Law Journal’s top 100 firms for Birmingham and funded his successful defense.”
What’s crazy is that the complaint would be half as long had Birmingham and Ward hired attorneys as soon as they were fired on March 31st.
But from my vantage point, they freaked at the thought of seeing their careers implode overnight and made a series of stupid decisions to rectify the situation.
If you’re ever in a similar situation—and we at Rooster Worldwide LLC hope that’s never the case—it’s important to remember that “posting through it” is almost always detrimental to your cause.
THOSE WMDs. Christian “TheoBros” are building a tech utopia in Appalachia… Addicted to OnlyFans… Human traffickers now forcing victims into cyberscamming… This journalist smoked crack to write this article… Does The Knot have a fake bride problem?
I knew the Rooster would look into this for all of us sickos…interestingly enough THE has not published a podcast in the last 7-10 days. Which may show that they were finished bankrolling the podcast(conjecture).
Someone start the popcorn, we're going to need plenty. BTW, jibe not jive.