CNN’s Don Lemon is reportedly being sued in Suffolk County by a man who claims that Lemon sexually assaulted him last summer at a Sag Harbor bar.
Dustin Hice, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, claims that Lemon assaulted him in July 2018 after he offered to buy Lemon a drink at the bar and Lemon declined.
According to the lawsuit, which was obtained by Mediaite, Lemon approached Hice later that night “and, after putting his hand down his shorts he ‘vigorously rubbed his genitalia’ and ‘shoved his index and middle fingers into [Hice’s] mustache.'”
“Mr. Lemon intensely pushed his fingers against Plaintiff’s face under Plaintiff’s nose, forcing Plaintiff’s head to thrust backward as Defendant repeatedly asked Plaintiff, ‘Do you like p**sy or d*ck?'” the lawsuit states. “While saying this, Mr. Lemon continued to shove his fingers into Plaintiff’s face with aggression and hostility.”
CNN responded to the lawsuit with the following statement: “The plaintiff in this lawsuit has previously displayed a pattern of contempt for CNN on his social media accounts. 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.”
Mediaite added that Hice reportedly demanded $1.5 million from Lemon before he filed the lawsuit and that Hice is seeking damages for emotional pain and suffering after he claimed that the alleged assault left him with “feelings of shame, humiliation, anxiety, anger, and guilt.”
The lawsuit is just the latest public relations incident that CNN is having to contend with this week as a video of CNN’s Chris Cuomo went viral on Tuesday night that showed him threatening to throw a man down a flight of stairs after the man called him “Fredo.”
“I thought that’s who you were,” the man said to Cuomo.
“No, punk-a** b****es from the Right call me Fredo,” Cuomo responded. “My name is Chris Cuomo, I’m an anchor on CNN.”
“Fredo is from ‘The Godfather,’ he was that weak brother and they’re using it as an Italian aspersion,” Cuomo continued. “It’s like the ‘n-word’ for us.”
Cuomo later said, “You’re going to have a f***ing problem.”
The man responded, “What are you going to do about it?”
Cuomo responded: “I’ll f***ing ruin your shit. I’ll f***ing throw you down these stairs like a f***ing punk.”
The video garnered national attention with President Donald Trump weighing in on it, tweeting: “I thought Chris was Fredo also. The truth hurts. Totally lost it! Low ratings @CNN”