Calvin Harris accuses former financial adviser of misappropriating $22.5 million in Hollywood real estate venture
Arbitration demand alleges funds were routed to a stalled project dubbed CMNTY Culture Campus; adviser denies wrongdoing as development pivots to large residential plan
Superstar DJ Calvin Harris has accused his former financial adviser of diverting $22.5 million into a Hollywood real estate venture that Harris’s lawyers say never produced returns and may be deteriorating financially.
In an arbitration demand filed Sept. 12 in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by the New York Post, Harris, whose legal name is Adam Richard Wiles, alleges that adviser Thomas St. John "systematically" exploited their professional relationship to funnel millions into a project originally pitched as CMNTY Culture Campus. St. John managed Harris’s finances from 2012 until April 2025, the filing says.
According to the arbitration papers, Harris invested through a vehicle called Lewis LLC and provided a $10 million loan plus a $12.5 million equity stake in Hollywood LLC, the entity behind the development. The complaint says Harris received almost no information about the venture beyond paperwork to sign, and that when the project ran short of cash in 2023 he was given only DocuSign forms to execute the transactions.
Harris’s attorneys say the paperwork was "materially misleading" and that approximately $11.7 million was transferred to Dun & Dun LLC, an entity they allege was controlled by St. John. The filing states Harris "has not received a single penny in return for that investment, and, indeed, Respondents have not even started developing or building the project." The lawyers described the deal as "at best, a complete boondoggle, and, at worst, a complete fraud."
The development was originally presented as a 460,000-square-foot creative complex with recording studios, artists’ lounges and office space. By 2024, the project had been repositioned as a residential development marketed as two towers with 750 apartments, including about 90 low-income units, along with retail and creative space.
Harris’s lawyers contend the $10 million loan, which was due Jan. 31, 2025, remains unpaid and that inquiries about the venture’s finances were met with "scant (and sometimes contradictory) information." They asked an arbitrator to block dissipation of project funds while the arbitration proceeds; according to the filing, Harris obtained an agreement preventing project funds from being dissipated pending the outcome.
St. John has denied any wrongdoing. Sasha Frid, an attorney for St. John, told Variety that Harris "actively pursued this development opportunity" and said the project remains viable despite market headwinds. Frid added that because of interest rates and other market factors, real estate projects are taking longer to build, and that the development could be worth more than $900 million when completed.
The arbitration filing and subsequent court action underscore growing tensions between entertainment industry clients and advisers over alternative investments such as real estate, where long timelines and capital calls can create disputes when projects pivot or encounter liquidity issues.
Harris is pursuing private arbitration rather than a public trial, and his petition in Los Angeles seeks to preserve the project’s remaining assets while the arbitration is resolved. The filing frames the dispute as both a demand for repayment of the outstanding loan and a bid to obtain clear accounting of where investor funds were directed.
Representatives for Harris and for St. John did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment beyond statements filed in the arbitration demand and to media outlets. The arbitration is pending, and the legal filings do not allege criminal charges; they seek remedies through the arbitration process and related court petitions.