Streamer Hasan Piker has sued CNN commentator Scott Jennings for defamation, seeking at least $72.5 million. A 38-page complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, DC, alleges that Jennings falsely portrayed Piker as wanting to bring back the lynching of Black Americans.
According to the complaint, Jennings said on his August 11 podcast that Piker had a “plan of returning our country to lynchings,” then told social media followers that Piker said the US should resume lynchings against Black people. Piker’s lawyers say the claims relied on a false, manipulated video.
The lawsuit says the clip came from a segment recorded two years earlier, in which Piker was mocking racism rather than advocating for it. The complaint argues that Jennings could criticize Piker’s political views but could not attribute statements to him that he had never made.
