On Thursday night, the JAKIB Media Twitter account posted a message claiming that Mike Missanelli attempted to physically attack owner Joe Krause following a court hearing in Montgomery County. Missanelli denied the accusation, while Krause says he’s filing a report with Norristown police. That was outside of the courtroom, but what happened inside the courtroom was that a judge denied Krause’s motion for what essentially amounted to a gag order:

This motion for a preliminary injunction was filed by JAKIB a few days before Halloween. It sought to prevent Missanelli from “1) engaging his audience and utilizing his daily radio show, The Mike Missanelli Show, to discuss this lawsuit and disparage the defendant, 2) contacting current and previous independent contractors of JAKIB Media via text message or by phone with disparaging remarks about the Defendant and his company.. 3) contacting the Defendant, Joe Krause via text message or by phone with intimidating messages and statements, and 4) contacting current and previous sponsors of JAKIB Media by text message or by phone until this Court has an opportunity to issue a final judgement on the merits.”

The injunction request argued that Krause and JAKIB would suffer irreparable harm and lose reputation within the market. As examples, the filing claims that Missanelli publicly commented on the lawsuit when he joked with Bill Colarulo about being an unpaid JAKIB contributor. That was back in August, on 97.5 the Fanatic. The court document includes the allegation that Missanelli sent an “intimidating” text to Krause on September 11th, caused financial loss due to the non-renewal of sponsorship dollars, and pushed “a narrative of distrust and anger against Joe Krause and JAKIB Media.” With the motion denied, JAKIB wrote on Twitter that Krause turned down a $40,000 settlement offer. That means legal proceedings will continue.

EDIT – let me add a statement from JAKIB, shared on Friday afternoon, which elaborates on Thursday’s alleged 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.”