CNN’s Don Lemon is being sued for an alleged assault in a Long Island, New York, bar July 2018.
Dustin Hice is suing Lemon, a CNN host, and seeking an unspecified amount for “emotional pain and suffering,” according to the lawsuit, Mediaite reported. Hice alleges Lemon attacked him in July 2018 at a New York bar after he offered to buy Lemon a drink. The lawsuit reads that Lemon “rubbed his genitalia” and then shoved his fingers in Hice’s face.
“Mr. Lemon, who was wearing a pair of shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, put his hand down the front of his own shorts, and vigorously rubbed his genitalia, removed his hand and shoved his index and middle fingers in Plaintiff’s moustache and under Plaintiff’s nose,” the suit reads.
Lemon allegedly asked Hice if he liked “pussy or dick” after shoving his fingers into Hice’s face repeatedly. (RELATED: CNN Hired Photo Editor Who Refers To Jews, Police As ‘Pigs’ And Called For People To Be Murdered)
Moderator Don Lemon of CNN speaks to the audience before the start of the second night of the second 2020 Democratic U.S. presidential debate in Detroit, Michigan, July 31, 2019. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)
Hice first asked Lemon for $1.5 million in order to drop the lawsuit, a source close to Lemon said, according to Mediaite. Lemon did not agree and said he had done nothing wrong.
The accuser was left with “feelings of shame, humiliation, anxiety, anger, and guilty,” the lawsuit reads. The alleged attack also affected Hice’s work, and he said word spread in the area and he was humiliated.
“The plaintiff in this lawsuit has previously displayed a pattern of contempt for CNN on his social media accounts,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement. “This claim follows his unsuccessful threats and demands for an exorbitant amount of money from Don Lemon. Don categorically denies these claims and this matter does not merit any further comment at this time.”
A Twitter account that is believed to belong to Hice has been deleted. An Instagram post from 2017 shows a person believed to be Hice posing in front of CNN’s headquarters with a caption that includes “the home of Fake News,” according to Mediaite.
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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