Germ vs. Paint Chips: “He could claim he was drunk,” says Luthmann, “but I’ll still fight him.”

By Dick LaFontaine with Michael Volpe and Richard Luthmann

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL – YouTuber Jeremy Hales – better known as “Germ” to his detractors – just challenged investigative journalist Richard Luthmann to trial by combat on a public live stream.

In an October 16th broadcast, Hales and his on-screen partner, “Martha the Secret Muslim,” taunted Luthmann (whom they derisively call “Paint Chips”) and dared him to settle their legal bad blood with medieval violence. Hales sneered that if Luthmann filed a motion demanding trial by combat, “we will not say no… we will say yes.”

Martha cackled in agreement, branding Luthmann a mentally unstable coward. “He definitely has mental issues. Something wrong with him,” she mocked.

Hales has cultivated a hillbilly outlaw persona online, turning petty feuds into an internet spectacle. His YouTube channel thrives on over-the-top legal drama and “courtroom cosplay” featuring himself and a loyal crew of enablers.

With a devilish grin, Hales recounted rumors that Luthmann “cried when he got served” legal papers – even claiming Luthmann “literally shed tears” after TikTok Terrorist Danesh “ThatDaneshGuy” Noshirvan had him served in another case.

The gauntlet was thrown. Hales’s message was clear: stop talking and fight me—trial by combat, Game of Thrones-style, to settle their scores once and for all.

In Hales’s words, “there is nothing that [Luthmann] needs more in his life” than a good old-fashioned duel. The sensational challenge – broadcast to Hales’s hundreds of thousands of followers – left viewers equal parts shocked and amused.

Would Luthmann really answer the call of battle?

From YouTube to Bloodsport: Paint Chips Accepts the Duel in Writing – and in Style

He would, and he did. Less than a day later, Luthmann – a Florida-based journalist and co-host of The Unknown Podcast with the Chicago-based Michael Volpe – responded with a formal email to Hales and his attorney, Randy “Pocket Rocket” Shochet.

In the October 17th message (brazenly CC’ing a who’s-who of allies and onlookers), Luthmann declares he “accept[s]” Hales’s offer to resolve their disputes via trial by combat.

Citing contract law, he insists Hales’s on-air dare was a “serious offer” – and by replying, he is locking Hales into a binding mutual agreement.

If Hales tries to chicken out now, Luthmann demands written confirmation that the challenge was “not serious.”

“He could claim he was drunk. He knows what he has to do to communicate to the world that his words are not serious,” Luthmann said.

Short of that, Luthmann says he’s taking Hales at his word and preparing for battle.

Luthmann isn’t approaching this like a YouTube prank; he’s treating it like a legal prizefight. The email outlines a plan to file for a declaratory judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 57 in the Middle District of Florida, requesting that a judge officially sanction their duel.

Luthmann even suggests a venue – New Port Richey, FL, a halfway point between Hales’s north Florida turf and Luthmann’s Gulf Coast base. He wants everything above-board and blessed by the court “before performance.”

In other words, he’s literally petitioning a federal judge to authorize a duel to the death.

Perhaps sensing Hales’s knees quaking, Luthmann’s letter offers one last exit hatch – at a steep price. He gives Hales a 48-hour ultimatum to beg for mercy publicly: by Sunday night, Hales must go on his channel and recite a humiliating apology, calling himself “a very, very weak… Yellow-Bellied Ignoramus” and admitting “if I face Paint Chips, it will be the end of me.”

He must also drop all his pending lawsuits – against everyone from Lynette Preston and John Cook to Donald Trump and even “Pope Leo XIV and Jesus Christ” (Luthmann’s sardonic flourish) – or else the duel is on.

“Do this not,” Luthmann warns in biblical tone, “and you will face me, mano a mano, and ultimately your final demise into the Pits of Hell.” Here is the excerpt:

I must warn you that you are at a significant disadvantage in this area – both legally and practically. So, I will allow you to withdraw your offer before I seek to enforce it by way of a duel, subject to prior judicial sanction. You have until 10:00 p.m. ET on this Sunday, October 19, 2025, to go on your YouTube channel (WhatTheHale$) and say these words, and the offer shall be deemed withdrawn (otherwise it shall be deemed legally effective for all purposes):

I must apologize to Paint Chips, who is a better person than I am. I made an offer to engage in Trial by Combat with him to resolve our differences. But I am a very, very weak person. I am also a Yellow-Bellied Ignoramus. I made the offer and he accepted. Now, I am begging his mercy to let me out of the duel. I am saying this because I do not want to die, and if I face Paint Chips, it will be the end of me. I am not ready to die because I know I will go to Hell. I thank Paint Chips for letting me out of this duel, and I am very, very sorry to him and his entire family for all the pain I have caused them. I ask Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, for forgiveness, and I will try to do better.

There’s no mistaking the message: Hales can either eat crow on camera and abandon his litigation crusades, or he must literally fight for his life.

Germ wanted a fight – now he’s got one.

From YouTube to Bloodsport: Trial by Combat Isn’t New for Luthmann

This isn’t Richard Luthmann’s first dance with the duel. The fiery ex-lawyer famously pulled the same stunt in New York – earning himself the nickname “The Game of Thrones Lawyer.”

Back in 2015, as a Staten Island attorney entangled in a civil fraud case, Luthmann made international headlines by demanding a trial by combat in court. Channeling medieval tradition, he filed a motion asking the judge to allow a “fight to the death” to decide the dispute.

In a 10-page brief that Tyrion Lannister could have penned, Luthmann cited medieval English law and even the Ninth Amendment, arguing that trial by combat was never explicitly outlawed in America.

A Staten Island judge ultimately acknowledged Luthmann’s right to request trial by combat – but, alas, did not order his opponents to pick up swords.

The duel never happened because, unsurprisingly, the other side refused to play along. In Luthmann’s eyes, that amounted to an automatic victory.

“They have declared themselves as cowards in the face of my honorable challenge, and I should go to inquest on my claims,” Luthmann crowed after his adversaries balked.

Translation: if you won’t fight me, I win by default.

It’s the same stance he’s taking now with Hales. Luthmann’s latest email even echoes that bravado – he says he’s proceeding on the assumption Hales’s challenge is legitimate and already binding. If Hales backs out, Luthmann will undoubtedly claim that he forfeits due to cowardice.

In short, Paint Chips is prepared to declare victory without a blow – unless Germ actually shows up to fight.

Now, Luthmann’s acceptance comes with detailed terms and conditions. He suggests both sides mutually agree on weapons, noting he prefers “machetes or war hammers” for their lethal potential. However, ever the showman, he’s open to less sanguinary formats.

“Paintball, if a sponsor is available,” his email muses, acknowledging a non-lethal paintball duel could be staged as a sporting event.

He also raises the possibility of fighting “to first blood” or “to the yield” (until one man submits) instead of strictly to the death.

But make no mistake: Luthmann clearly hungers for a definitive finish. In 2015, he explicitly asked for combat “to the death,” and he taunted that opponents who refuse are forever branded yellow-bellied cowards.

His attitude today is unchanged – he’s already calling Hales “Yellow” and practically salivating at the chance to “release [his] soul from [its] corporeal body”, as he once put it in legal filings.

From YouTube to Bloodsport: Grudge Match Fueled by Scandal and Schemes

This bizarre duel challenge didn’t emerge from thin air. It’s the culmination of a long, ugly feud between Hales and Luthmann – one entangled with allegations of scams, stalking, and internet conspiracies. Jeremy Hales, 45, runs a popular YouTube channel “What The Hale$” where he buys storage units and hunts for treasure.

However, in recent years, he has pivoted to playing a “lawless vigilante” role online – waging a legal war against critics and rivals while livestreaming the drama for viewership.

Hales has filed a flurry of lawsuits (most in Florida federal court, some in Ohio) against a wide range of individuals, from neighbors to fellow YouTubers. His critics – Luthmann chief among them – accuse him of “fake legal drama” and harassing innocents for clout.

Luthmann and his podcast co-host, Chicago journalist Michael Volpe, have been Hales’s most vocal critics, digging into Hales’s tactics. They’ve reported that Hales allegedly exploited the elderly in Florida, including Luthmann’s father. Hales even dragged a recently-widowed 80-something veteran (a YouTuber known as “Ray Bonecrusher”) into court under a bogus pseudonym and even more bogus pretenses.

Hales is also accused of conspiring with TikTok personality Danesh Noshirvan (the same “Danesh” who served Luthmann papers) to smear their mutual enemies.

Both Noshirvan and Hales’ media “eco-sytems” claim false child abuse reports and sham custody petitions.

Volpe’s reporting dubs Hales and Danesh a “cancel culture couple” who coordinate “lawfare” attacks – fake arrests, bogus lawsuits, doxxing, and lies – to silence people. Hales, Volpe says, is effectively “weaponizing the legal system” for internet revenge.

All this bad blood sets the stage for a fight that will truly be to the finish. Luthmann’s position is bold: he considers himself already victorious unless Hales faces him in the ring. From Luthmann’s view, Jeremy “Germ” Hales can either show up and duel like a man or forever wear the mark of a coward.

And Luthmann may not stop at Hales.

Given Danesh Noshirvan’s deep involvement in this saga, some wonder if Luthmann will challenge Danesh next – a two-for-one trial by combat to vanquish both of his nemeses. On his podcast, Luthmann has openly called Danesh a “predator” and blasted him for hiding behind lawsuits; it’s not hard to imagine Luthmann extending the duel dare to Danesh as well.

A Battle Royale with all three could be the internet turned IRL grudge match of the century.

For now, all eyes are on Hales. The deadline for his groveling apology is fast approaching. Will Germ bend the knee and beg off this insane duel? Or will he grab a war hammer and step onto the field of honor to back up his bluster?

In this real-life Florida-Man twist on Game of Thrones, it comes down to trial by combat. As Luthmann once wrote – only half-joking – “under the law, the other side has forfeited because they have not met the call of battle.”

Jeremy Hales must now decide: fight, or forfeit. In the swamps of Florida, steel might soon decide what the law could not.