Piker Sues Jennings for $72.5 Million Over Alleged Lynching Remarks
Hasan Piker, a California-based streamer on the Twitch platform, is suing political commentator Scott Jennings for $72.5 million. According to The Guardian, the case is a defamation suit, a legal claim that false statements damaged a person's reputation, and it was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Piker says Jennings's comments portrayed him as a violent racist who advocated the lynching of Black people. The lawsuit seeks $27.5 million in compensatory damages, which are meant to cover harm a person has suffered, and $45 million in punitive damages, which are meant to punish the party found responsible. Piker is also demanding a jury trial.
Jennings is a political commentator for CNN and hosts the Scott Jennings Show podcast. The lawsuit alleges that he falsely told listeners Piker had a "plan of returning our country to lynchings." It also alleges that he falsely told social media followers that Piker "says the USA should resume lynchings against black people."
The suit further alleges that Jennings aired a cropped, shortened and rearranged 42-second video of Piker on his podcast on 11 August. According to the lawsuit, the edited clip left out context, including the words "he said."
