Streamer Hasan Piker filed a defamation suit Tuesday in a Washington, D.C. federal court against commentator Scott Jennings, demanding over $72 million, Bloomberg Law reported.
The complaint says Jennings aired an altered clip and a made-up quote on his podcast in August to falsely say Piker had called for lynching Black Americans, and then used the clip to attack Democrats.
“Mr. Jennings did not merely mischaracterize something Mr. Piker said,” the complaint says.
Piker says the clip is a “heavily edited” 42 seconds from a 2024 Twitch stream, in which he was sarcastically mocking someone else’s criminal justice argument, not stating his own view. He says Jennings ignored an August retraction demand and kept the clip online.
The complaint alleges Jennings knew the claims were false or recklessly disregarded the truth, the legal bar for public figures. Piker’s claims include defamation per se, defamation by implication, and false light, and he seeks at least $27.5 million in compensatory and $45 million in punitive damages.
Jennings, a pro-MAGA pundit who has been floated at various times for White House press secretary in the Trump administration, didn’t immediately respond to the complaint.
Piker, a leftist commentator with a history of controversial statements, has emerged as a frequent target for Republicans trying to link him to various Democratic candidates, including some like Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who campaigned with him during the primary season.
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