Hasan Piker Hits Conservative Commentator Scott Jennings With $72.5 Million Defamation Lawsuit

A far-left Twitch streamer, Hasan Piker, is accusing a conservative CNN commentator, Scott Jennings, of falsely claiming that had called for the lynching of black people. And he wants $72.5 million in personal compensation as a result.Mr. Piker filed a $72.5 million defamation lawsuit against Mr. Jennings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday. The defamation lawsuit centers on an August 11 episode of Mr. Jennings’ podcast in which he told his audience that Mr. Piker is “calling for black voters to be lynched.”“All of Mr. Jennings’ accusations are false. Mr. Piker has never advocated the lynching of black Americans, or anyone else,” the lawsuit says. “He has never called for a return to lynchings. And he has never proposed anything remotely resembling the supposed plan that Mr. Jennings falsely attributed it to him.”Mr. Jennings, a darling of conservatives for his willingness to serve as a counterweight to liberal or anti-Trump guests on CNN, is a frequent target of liberal commentators. Liberal critics frequently accuse the Trump administration supporter of making false or misleading statements during his appearances. Mr. Piker himself has made wild and coarse accusations against Mr. Jennings during his stream.In the contested podcast episode, Mr. Jennings appeared to be attempting to tar the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, by highlighting his connection to Mr. Piker. “Abdul El-Sayed’s best pal and campaign partner says the USA should resume lynchings against black people,” Mr. Jennings wrote on X. “Listen for yourself and understand what the socialists have in store for the black community.”A video played on Mr. Jennings’ podcast appeared to show that Mr. Piker had admitted to being “racist” and had said that America should “go back to a better time when lynchings were happening.”“[Who] you just heard campaigns all the time for Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan,” Mr. Jennings said.However, Mr. Piker says in his lawsuit that “Mr. Jennings did not merely mischaracterize something Mr. Piker said, he took a false, fabricated, and manipulated video of Mr. Piker, added a made-up quotation that Mr. Piker never uttered, and then made accusations that went beyond even what the manipulated footage purported to show.”Mr. Piker’s comments highlighted by Mr. Jennings came from an October 2024 stream in which Mr. Piker was mocking a conservative commentator. “[Mr. Piker] said, ‘We need more Klansmen, OK? Can we go back to a better time when lynchings were happening?’” Mr. Jennings asserted. The lawsuit, however, points to a fact-checking website, Snopes, which previously concluded that a “full review of Piker’s unedited remarks confirms Jennings falsely claimed Piker said he was in favor of bringing back lynchings.”Attorneys for Mr. Piker say Mr. Jennings presented his accusations as fact, not a statement of opinion. The complaint also says the CNN commentator was asked to remove the video, but he has not done so. Mr. Piker says he suffered “injury to his reputation, public humiliation, emotional distress, mental anguish, and damage to his professional interests.”Since Mr. Piker is a public figure, he would have to show that Mr. Jennings acted with actual malice, meaning he knew his statement was false or he acted with reckless disregard for the truth. Mr. Piker would also have to show that the statement was provably false and that Mr. Jennings was not expressing his opinion. Mr. Jennings did not respond to a request for comment.

Hasan Piker Hits Conservative Commentator Scott Jennings With $72.5 Million Defamation Lawsuit

Hasan Piker Hits Conservative Commentator Scott Jennings With $72.5 Million Defamation Lawsuit

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