Story updated 10/24/25 3:30 a.m.
Chris Keating, the owner of LEO Weekly, Cincinnati Beat, and Detroit Metro Times, has been named as a defendant in a Missouri lawsuit stemming from the sale of St. Louis’ Sauce Magazine. In the lawsuit, filed in July, Allyson Mace of Bent Mind Creative Group claims that Keating agreed to pay $479,000 for Sauce in October of 2023. He apparently paid, $99,000 and entered into a promissory contract for the rest, $380,000.
Keating made four payments following and began defaulting on payments in July 2024.
Keating sold Sauce to STL Bucket List, a St. Louis-based lifestyle media group, around the same time. According to the lawsuit, Mace says he still owes her $168,333.
Keating and his attorneys made a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in September. The motion was denied by Judge John N. Borbonus.
Developments in the case can be followed here.
According to St. Louis Magazine, the plaintiff’s attorney, Al Watkins, and Keating both have offices in the Mercantile Fair Building, with Watkins on the third floor and Keating on the first. Watkins told St. Louis Magazine, “I’m not sure Mr. Keating enjoys the fact that I’m sniffing in his kitty litter every day.”
This is not Keating’s first run-in with legal troubles. He’s faced issues in the past stemming from tax payment issues.
It is also noteworthy that the parent company owned by Keating, Big Lou Holdings, LLC, is listed in inactive/bad standing in the state of Kentucky business registrations.
In October of 2024, the Kentucky Secretary of State issued a Revocation of Certificate of Authority, meaning that Big Lou Holdings, LLC, and LEO Weekly should not be operating in the state of Kentucky.
It is not unusual for businesses to experience this, but in this instance, it seems to illustrate a pattern of poor business due diligence on the part of Keating.
