Washington DC – Left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker has filed a massive defamation lawsuit against CNN commentator and MAGA loyalist Scott Jennings.
In a filing to a DC federal court on Tuesday, Piker’s legal team said that during the August 11 episode of both his radio show and podcast, Jennings shared a video that he claimed showed the streamer making “racist” comments about Black people, including a “plan of returning our country to lynchings.”
The filing claims the “false, fabricated, and manipulated” video edited together clips from three separate livestreams and omitted the context that Piker was mocking a Black conservative commentator he was debating in one of the clips, as opposed to sharing his own views.
Piker has accused Jennings of defamation and portraying him in a false light. He is seeking $27.5 million in compensatory damages and $45 million in punitive damages.
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In recent months, Piker has gained national attention by using his streaming platform to boost several progressive and socialist candidates in the upcoming midterms, such as Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan.
His heightened profile has drawn criticism from both sides of the political aisle over his staunch opposition to Israel and its actions in Gaza.
Jennings, meanwhile, is a conservative commentator on CNN who regularly uses his role to defend President Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s most controversial policies and rhetoric.
In a livestream on Tuesday, Piker explained the suit was “about truth in the media,” adding, “If these guys will not hold up ethics in media and ethics in journalism… then someone has to fight back.”
