97.5 the Fanatic’s Mike Missanelli is suing JAKIB Media owner Joe Krause for what he says is tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid compensation. Following a Thursday court hearing in Montgomery County, the JAKIB Media Twitter account posted this, alleging that Missanelli attempted to attack Krause:

Update on the Mike Missanelli Lawsuit

Following today’s court hearing in Norristown, where JAKIB Sports declined a $40,000 settlement offer, an incident occurred involving Mike Missanelli. He verbally threatened & attempted to physically attack our founder, Joe Krause, in the courthouse lobby by the elevators after the hearing.

We will not stand down to Mike Missanelli, and we will not be bullied. He did not fulfill his contract, and he knows it. A police report is being filed tonight with the Norristown Police Department and we are prepared to press charges. JAKIB Sports is committed to seeing this through the proper legal channels.

Missanelli denied that a physical confrontation took place.

In a statement, he said:

“Joe Krause lost his court case with me today and was obviously sour after the fact. I turned down his settlement offer of less than half of the $85,000 that he owes me for services rendered. He has repeatedly tried to circumvent payment to many he employed for his fledgling company and I have begun the process of legal action to recover what he owes me. There was no physical altercation other than his failed, belligerent attempt to get into the elevator with my attorney and myself.”

Krause says he’s filing a police report, which is something we can follow up on.

Thursday’s court hearing involved a motion for a gag order, following a preliminary injunction filed by Krause back on October 28th.


EDIT – adding a statement from JAKIB, shared on Friday afternoon, which elaborates on the courthouse confrontation:

We have been reached for comment by the Inquirer & other outlets. For the sake of full transparency, this is our founder’s official full statement on yesterday’s incident:

“Yesterday afternoon at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Mike Missanelli exited a fifth-floor elevator and approached me in an aggressive and threatening manner. With a hostile look and shouting, ‘I WILL F***ING TAKE YOU OUT RIGHT NOW,’ his actions demonstrated a clear intent to intimidate and threaten harm. A courthouse officer had to intervene and physically restrain him to prevent further escalation.

Terroristic threats and intimidation are serious offenses under Pennsylvania law, and I am committed to holding Mike accountable for such unlawful behavior. A formal complaint has been filed with the District Attorney’s Office. Since this incident occurred within a courthouse, which is County property, a special prosecutor has been assigned to handle the matter.

Harassment and intimidation have no place in our society, and I will ensure that appropriate legal actions are taken to address this incident.”