In a lawsuit, Dustin Hice, a Florida bartender, claimed that CNN host Don Lemon sexually assaulted him.
Court documents from Suffolk County, New York showed that Hice is demanding over one million dollars from Lemon.
The man claimed that in July of 2018, he met Lemon while he was with a few colleagues at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern in Sag Harbor in Long Island, New York.
Hice was employed at another establishment, The Old Stove, at the time of the incident. Hice, a registered Republican, said that he approached Lemon to have a friendly conversation.
He also revealed that he offered the TV anchor a drink, but he declined because he was “just trying to have a good time.”
Hice’s attorney claimed the sexual assault that followed left him in emotional distress for several months.
Hice seems to have shut down his Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. Hice appeared to have also deleted the pictures he previously had online and has been focusing on church.
According to Hice, moments after the initial contact with Lemon, the following things happened: “Mr. Lemon walked towards him and his colleagues inside of Murf’s. Mr. Lemon, who was wearing a pair of shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, put his hand down the front of his shorts, and vigorously rubbed his genitalia, removed his hand and shoved his index and middle fingers into plaintiff’s mustache under plaintiff’s nose.”
Hice also stated that the CNN nightly host put his finger under his nose, pushed his head back, and asked him the following question: “Do you like p*y or dk?”
Hice said that Lemon continued with the aggression and hostility by shoving his fingers into his face. Hice eventually fled the bar and took a few minutes to catch his breath while outside.
The 38-year-old man said the incident left him “shocked and humiliated,” and he has not been able to bounce back from the attack.
Hice said he could no longer return to The Hamptons nor work in the bars he was once employed because people, who witnessed the incident, come to mock him.
His attorney explained: “After the incident, customers who came into The Old Stove or saw Plaintiff out about town cheekily ordered lemon drops and laughed at Plaintiff’s expense.”
Hice, a religious man, has been leaning on his faith and the church, as “he continues to suffer emotionally, mentally, and personally from the incident.”
Despite his prayers and being surrounded by other God-fearing people, Hice said he became withdrawn from friends and family and had been suffering from feelings of shame, humiliation, anxiety, anger, and guilt.
He said he is unable to sleep and at times, and sufferers “from suicidal ideations.”
Lemon’s backers have already been pointing to Hice’s Twitter account where he bashed CNN to find the motive for the lawsuit.
It has also been confirmed that two months before the encounter with Lemon, Hice had confessed to injuring his then-girlfriend with his keys during a domestic dispute.
In a statement on behalf of the cable news network, a CNN spokesperson said they are standing Lemon with who “categorically denies” the claims and once more used all the posts Hice deleted on Twitter to make this point: “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.”
After what happened with Chris Cuomo and the “Fredo” video, supporters of President Donald Trump are using the suit to go after CNN.
