Progressive pundit Hasan Piker has filed a $72.5 million defamation lawsuit against conservative commentator Scott Jennings, claiming Jennings deliberately distorted his remarks to falsely portray him as a supporter of lynching Black people.
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Jennings → file → people
Piker, in a 38-page complaint filed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., federal court, said Jennings defamed him during an Aug. 11 episode of “The Scott Jennings Show” when he played footage from a 2024 livestream of Piker’s show that had been doctored.
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that → file → show
“Mr. Jennings did not merely mischaracterize something Mr. Piker said,” the complaint states.
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complaint → mischaracterize → something
“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.”
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footage → take → what
Jennings, who is also a CNN commentator, described Piker on the broadcast as a “radical socialist streamer” and Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s “best friend” who has been “calling for Black voters to be lynched.”
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voters → describe → streamer
“Listen for yourself and understand what the socialists have in store for the black community,” Jennings posted.
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Jennings → listen → community
“Mr. Piker has never advocated the lynching of Black Americans, or anyone else,” the complaint states.
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complaint → advocate → Americans
“He has never called for a return to lynchings.
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He → call → lynchings
And he has never proposed anything remotely resembling the supposed plan that Mr. Jennings falsely attributed to him.”
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Jennings → propose → him
Jennings did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.
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Jennings → respond → comment
In the complaint, Piker’s legal team said it sent a written demand to Jennings’ lawyers in August that they issue a retraction.
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they → say → retraction
The legal team for Jennings acknowledged they received the letter and said a response would follow, but no “substantive response” has been issued, the complaint said.
As of Wednesday, Jennings’ post that includes the allegedly doctored video was still on X and had racked-up three million views.
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that → acknowledge → views
Piker’s legal team also suggested in the complaint that in addition to undermining El-Sayed’s support with Black voters in Michigan, Jennings had a “professional and political incentive” to smear Piker.
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Jennings → suggest → Piker
“In the weeks surrounding the publications, Mr. Jennings was publicly reported to be under consideration for the position of White House Press Secretary,” the complaint states.
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complaint → surround → Secretary
Piker, who is seeking $27.5 million in compensatory damages and $45 million in punitive damages, is a social media maven with more than 3.1 million Twitch followers, 2 million YouTube subscribers, and roughly 1.9 million followers on Instagram.
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who → seek → Instagram
While Piker has campaigned on behalf of several Democratic candidates, he remains a controversial figure in the party and has been accused by several Jewish organizations of promoting antisemitic tropes and downplaying the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel.
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he → campaign → Israel
In the complaint, Piker alleges that the video Jennings aired combined footage from three separate Twitch livestreams and rearranged the sequence of his remarks.
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Jennings → allege → remarks
Also, the complaint states, the video shows Piker making sarcastic remarks about going back “to a better time when lynchings were happening.”
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lynchings → state → time
But the makers of the video edited out the Oct. 29, 2024, YouTube debate between two Black political commentators — one liberal, the other conservative — that Piker was reacting too.
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Piker → edit → commentators
After a clip of the conservative commentator blaming “woke DAs” for policies that harm Black people, the complaint said, Piker responded: “He said, ‘We need more Klansmen, okay?
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We → blame → Klansmen
Can we go back to a better time when lynchings were happening?
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lynchings → go → time
This is what I like as a Black man.
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I → like → man
My man said, ‘woke DAs,’ dude.
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man → say → DAs
What are you saying?”
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you → say → What
That clip was taken out of context and presented on Jennings’ show with the caption “PIKER: ‘LET’S GO BACK TO A BETTER TIME WHEN LYNCHINGS WERE HAPPENING,’” which the complaint says was never said by Piker.
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complaint → take → Piker
“Mr. Piker was mocking the conservative commentator’s statement,” the complaint states.
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complaint → mock → statement
“Mr. Piker obviously was not expressing support for the Ku Klux Klan, lynching, or racial discrimination.”
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Piker → express → Klan
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