A dispute between two founders of a wrestling YouTube channel has entered the legal ring.
Cousins Sumeet Jaswal and Sandip Parmar agreed in December 2015 to start a channel originally called Top 5 Everything, according to a lawsuit Jaswal filed last week against Parmar and an unnamed company.
Jaswal claimed he would write scripts and record voiceovers, and opened a Google AdSense account in his name. Parmar, meanwhile, would edit videos.
“While the growth of that channel's popularity was originally slow, Mr. Jaswal and Mr. Parmar soon realized some success with pro wrestling content,” the lawsuit states.
The two pivoted to launching a channel dedicated to professional wrestling under the name Wrestling Hub. According to the lawsuit, Jaswal proposed the name and created branding graphics for the channel, and he continued his role writing scripts and doing voiceovers. Parmar retained his role editing the videos.
Jaswal claimed he left his studies as an undergrad at the University of British Columbia both as a response to health issues he’d been experiencing and to dedicate himself full time to the channel.
Jaswal began experiencing pain in July 2017 resulting from sedentary work and sitting at a desk all day, according to the notice of civil claim. At the same time, ad revenue from the YouTube channel was declining, so Jaswal reduced his workload for the channel.
Jaswal claims Parmar then hired another person to replace his cousin without consent. According to the lawsuit, decisions like hiring would require both of their consent per their agreement.
The pair met in winter 2017 and Jaswal claimed he agreed to reduce his cut of the profits to 20 per cent, while retaining 50 per cent ownership. Parmar would retain his 50 per cent cut, Jaswal claimed, and the third person hired by Parmar would take 30 per cent. If and when Jaswal was able to return, his cut would increase to 25 per cent, according to the lawsuit.
“In April 2021, Mr. Parmar falsely advised Mr. Jaswal that he had retained an accountant for the benefit of Wrestling Hub and advised Mr. Jaswal that he was advised or required to change the Google AdSense account from Mr. Jaswal's name and bank account to a Wrestling Hub business account,” the lawsuit reads.
Jaswal agreed, but claims Parmar then stopped paying him altogether.
After confronting Parmar about it, Jaswal alleges Parmar admitted in March 2022 that he had decided to stop paying Jaswal’s share of the profits and no longer recognized his ownership share of the channel. This, Jaswal claims, was despite his medical condition and in breach of their agreement.
Jaswal’s lawsuit targets both Parmar and an unnamed company, which he claims was set up by Parmar as the legal owner of the channel. He is seeking a declaration that the two entered into a joint venture to operate the Wrestling Hub channel.
He’s also seeking an order for that partnership to be dissolved and its assets split equally between the two.
These allegations have not been proven in court and Parmar had not filed a response as of press time.
