The battle over the future of the live music business took a deeply personal turn this week in federal court, as former Barclays Center executive John Abbamondi described what he called a “veiled threat” from Michael Rapino, the chief executive of Live Nation Entertainment, according to reporting from both the New York Times and Decibel.

At issue is a phone call in 2021 — expletive-laced, recorded and now played for a Manhattan jury — that sits at the heart of the Justice Department’s antitrust case against Live Nation. The government alleges the company used its dominance in concert promotion to pressure venues into exclusive ticketing deals with Ticketmaster. Live Nation denies that claim, insisting it competes aggressively for every show and that venues are free to choose their ticketing partners.