Milagro Gramz opened the sixth day of her Miami courtroom fight, locked in a new dispute after Chief Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga rejected her bid to punish Megan Thee Stallion for allegedly violating a gag order.
The denial landed hours after Gramz told the court she had been bombarded with threatening messages online once Megan labeled her a bully in comments captured by reporters outside the courthouse.
The sanctions motion Gramz filed Monday accused Megan of breaking a June 10 order that bars both sides from speaking about the case or any witnesses in public forums.
The order was issued by Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid to stop outside influence on the federal defamation trial, now in its second week.
Gramz claimed Megan crossed that line twice. The first moment came on Thursday when a reporter asked Megan about bloggers.
Megan replied, “Just because you have freedom of speech does not mean that you have freedom to bully!”. Within hours, Gramz received hostile messages on Instagram. Screenshots attached to her motion show people sending insults and telling her to harm herself.
The motion said the threats stemmed from Megan tying the term ‘bully’ to Gramz in front of cameras. Gramz argued the comments poisoned the jury pool and harmed her safety. She asked the court for an adverse instruction, permission to question Megan in front of jurors about the issue, and contempt sanctions.
The next morning, another reporter asked Megan about the purpose of her lawsuit. Megan responded, “You just cannot get away with bullying and defaming people!.”
Gramz said that the second remark made the problem worse because it tied her to Megan’s broader claims about online attacks.
Judge Altonaga denied the request in a brief order stating that the motion failed to comply with the local rules. The judge noted Gramz did not confer with Megan’s legal team before filing and did not include a memorandum of law.
The denial shut down the issue for now, but left open the question of whether the defense will revisit it in accordance with proper procedure.
The larger trial has moved at a steady pace since opening statements last Monday. Megan claims Gramz acted as a digital surrogate for Tory Lanez after the 2020 shooting that left Megan with bullet wounds in both feet.
Tory Lanez is serving a ten-year sentence in California. Megan’s lawsuit says Gramz used her growing platform to push conspiracy theories and attack her credibility.
Testimony through the first four days has centered on Megan’s emotional distress. The rapper told jurors she suffered lasting harm when Gramz promoted a pornographic deepfake video of her.
She also detailed how Gramz’s commentary made her fear for her safety during the criminal trial.
Gramz has built her defense on the argument that she is a journalist protected by the First Amendment. She says she reported on a major celebrity case using public information.
The court has been skeptical. Judge Altonaga previously ruled that Gramz does not qualify as a journalist for shield law purposes based on her own statements about her work.
The trial is set to continue on Monday (November 24) with more testimony from digital forensics experts. Both sides have said they expect the case to wrap up before Thanksgiving.
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