Judge hits SC podcaster Mandy Matney with $176,500 in costs and a fine for contempt

South Carolina Judge Keith Kelly has found SC podcaster Mandy Matney in contempt for court for her resisting to sit for a court-ordered deposition and slapped a hefty financial punishment — $171,500 in lawyers’ fees and a $5,000 fine — on her.

The $171,500 in lawyer’s fees will go to three law firms who sought her testimony in an ongoing civil court lawsuit. Matney is not a party to the lawsuit, but the lawyers said they believed Matney might have information they needed. Matney has since given a deposition.

That is a whopping amount,” said several Columbia area lawyers who didn’t want to be quoted by name. They couldn’t recall any similar court-ordered financial penalties ever in South Carolina for people who defy subpoenas to give a deposition.

In his 22-page order filed Monday, Judge Kelly said he could find no good reason why Matney did not show up for her deposition earlier this year in Bluffton in Beaufort County.

On April 8, five months of motions and counter motions, and a final court order by Judge Kelly, Matney finally sat for a deposition. Since then, Kelly has held hearings in which Matney has testified about why she didn’t obey the court order to give a deposition in the first place.

“Ms. Matney’s stated reason for failing to comply — that the noticed location was not sufficiently safe for her — is not supported by the evidence or any credible testimony,” Kelly wrote.

Moreover, Kelly wrote, Matney brought the contempt of court finding upon herself.

“This contempt proceeding arose from Ms. Matney’s own conduct. Had she appeared for her deposition at the noticed location on March 27th or accepted the alternative locations (for a deposition) ... she would not be before the Court on a contempt motion,” the judge wrote.

In recent months, Matney has appeared at several hearings, taking the witness stand and describing in great detail why she was so afraid to show up for a deposition. She also said she didn’t believe she had relevant information to give the lawyers who sought her testimony.

She was cross-examined at length by lawyer Deborah Barbier of Columbia, who sought to show that Matney’s fears were not reasonable and possibly concocted.

During the months the matter of Matney’s contempt of court issue took to be resolved, the podcaster has made fun of the judge, the judicial system and Barbier on her social media posts. The judge said her criticism didn’t affect his decision.

Matney, 35, is a former Island Packet and FitsNews reporter who became a true crime podcaster after covering a deadly 2019 Beaufort County boat crash and its links to the family of Alex Murdaugh, now a disbarred lawyer and convicted multimillion dollar fraudster in state prison.

The State newspaper reached out to Matney for comment but has gotten no reply.

Becky Lindahl, one of Matney’s attorneys, said in an email in response to a query from The State, “We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and plan to appeal.”

Judge says Matney defied court

In his order, the judge made clear that Matney’s failure to sit for a deposition last March 27 was a deliberate act of defiance of a legitimate court order.

“There is clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Matney’s failure to appear was not the result of confusion, mistake, or inability, but rather was a deliberate decision to disregard the subpoena and the Court’s March 16, 2026 Order requiring that she be deposed within 14 days,” Judge Kelly wrote.

“Matney’s conduct and online commentary ... demonstrate a lack of appropriate respect for the authority of the courts of this state,” Kelly wrote.

Kelly also noted that Matney appeared to commemorate her defiance of the court order with a lunch celebration at an outdoor restaurant after the time she was scheduled to sit for a subpoena.

Lemon pound cake celebration?

“Ms. Matney’s social media posts from later that same day included pictures of her eating lemon pound cake with Plaintiffs’ lead counsel after the attempted deposition was adjourned and toasting herself with a beverage at an outdoor location,” the judge wrote.

“She also posted pictures of herself, her counsel, and her husband having what appears to be a celebratory meal outing in Savannah. The Court observes that Ms. Matney’s posts memorializing these activities evidence her intent to defy her obligation to appear at the noticed deposition location,” the judge wrote.

The judge also said there are good reasons for slapping a financial penalty on Matney.

“Such sanctions are necessary to protect the integrity of the judicial process. The judicial system depends upon parties respecting subpoenas and utilizing motions practice in good faith,” the judge wrote.

“Allowing a contemnor to disrespect court orders and file legally and factually unsupported motions without consequence encourages continued abuse of the process and undermines the authority of the Court,” Kelly wrote.

In his order, the judge said that the three law firms that were trying to take Matney’s deposition had asked for $310,533.

But he wound up shaving their request down to $171,500.

The three firms and the amounts they are now owed by Matney are: $39,900 is awarded to the law firm of Bannister, Wyatt, and Stalvey; $45,950 is awarded to the law firm of Deborah B. Barbier, LLC; and $85,650 is awarded to the law firm of Maynard Nexsen. Barbier, Jim Bannister and Mark Moore were key lawyers seeking a judgment from Matney.

Portrait of a podcaster

During the three hearings that Judge Kelly held, Matney admitted making things up on her podcast and not knowing routine details about her podcasting business, such as how much money her business makes.

Asked by Barbier in the June 22 hearing about a podcast in which Matney alleged Barbier “pounded her fist” during a hearing, Barbier told Matney, “You are aware that I’ve never pounded my fist in the courtroom?”

Matney replied, “Your ‘pounding your fist’ is more of an expression.”

Barbier: “It’s an expression, but it didn’t happen. It’s a false characterization and a false narrative of what occurred in that court proceeding, isn’t it?”

Matney: “I don’t know.”

Barbier: “Well, you have the video. Is there any video of my pounding my fist?”

Matney: “It’s an expression.”

Asked by Barbier in the June 22 hearing how much her company, LunaShark, is worth, Matney said, “I don’t know. My husband does the money.” She also testified she doesn’t know how many premium subscribers her show has because she is only the “creative” side of the enterprise.

Although she portrayed herself as a heroic crusader, Barbier’s questions were aimed at demonstrating Matney is out to get clicks on her internet social media posts.

Under questioning by her own lawyer, Matney said she is a graduate of a journalism school and had worked on several small newspapers before moving into the podcast business. She wrote a book on the Murdaugh murders with the help of a professional nonfiction writer.

In an affidavit filed before the judge’s contempt hearing, Matney wrote, “I experience night terrors and recurring nightmares, have to hire private security at public appearances (which I must make for my professional success) and court proceedings, and secure my home with enhanced security.”

At one hearing, Matney broke down and wept under Barbier’s questions, and Judge Kelly called a 15-minute break so she could recover herself.

In her testimony, Matney also made it clear that having to attend hearings and testify affected her ability to work on her podcasts.

“I’m drowning from all of this. And, again, this is, I don’t know, the fifth day I’ve had to take off work because of this,” she testified in a hearing at the Spartanburg County courthouse June 22, the last of the three hearings.

Judge Kelly also shot down allegations made by Matney on the witness stand that Barbier and her colleagues were “using the contempt proceeding to harass or punish her for her reporting on the Murdaugh case and to silence her.”

But Kelly said, “There is no persuasive evidence before this Court which would support Ms. Matney’s allegations that she is being harassed or unjustly treated by the Parker’s Defendants or their counsel.”

Kelly also quoted S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kittredge, who said in an April 15 speech before the S.C. General Assembly that half-truths and false narratives that circulate on social media, podcasts, and other outlets masquerading as journalism, attacking ... our justice system.”

Why did they want Matney’s deposition?

Matney is a potential witness in an ongoing lawsuit, filed in Hampton County and titled Renee Beach vs Greg Parker and others. Renee Beach is the mother of Mallory Beach, 19, who died after a 2019 nighttime boat crash in a craft believed to have been piloted by a drunken Paul Murdaugh.

After Mallory Beach drowned, photos of her corpse were leaked to the public, and the lawsuit filed by her mother seeks damages from Parker for allegedly leaking the photos.

Lawyers for Parker have said they believe that Matney may have some information about the photographs of Mallory Beach’s dead body and that is why they wanted to question her.

In 2023, in a separate lawsuit, Parker, the owner of a chain of convenience stores, paid Renee Beach $15 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit that Beach had brought against Parker. An underage Murdaugh bought alcohol at one of Parker’s stores in the hours before the fatal boat crash.

Judge Kelly noted that “Ms. Matney generally has a First Amendment right to state her opinions about this case, the parties, and the Court on social media and during her podcasts and those posts do not form the basis for the Court’s finding of contempt.

“However, the First Amendment does not preclude the Court from considering these posts which have been attached to pleadings or otherwise appropriately before this Court when assessing Ms. Matney’s credibility and whether she had just cause for her willful failure to appear at the noticed location.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Judge hits SC podcaster Mandy Matney with $176,500 in costs and a fine for contempt."