Dustin Hice, a Hamptons bartender with a social media history of contempt for CNN, is suing news anchor Don Lemon over an alleged sexual assault he claims took place at Sag Harbor dive bar Murf’s in July 2018.
Mediaite reports: ‘The alleged attack, the suit claims, left Hice with “feelings of shame, humiliation, anxiety, anger, and guilt,” and affected his work in the Hamptons. He said word of the alleged attack spread around the area, and led to locals humiliating him at the bar he worked at. Hice, who is represented by New York law firm Nesenoff & Miltenberg, is seeking unspecified damages for emotional pain and loss of earnings.’
According to the lawsuit, which was filed, according to a source that spoke with Mediaite, after Hice demanded $1.5 million from Lemon not to file it: “Mr. Lemon, who was wearing a pair of shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, put his hand down the front of his own shorts, and vigorously rubbed his genitalia, removed his hand and shoved his index and middle fingers in Plaintiff’s moustache and under Plaintiff’s nose,” and said “Do you like pussy or dick?”
Hice’s social media accounts were deleted but one Instagram post uncovered by Mediaite from January 2017 showed Hice in front of CNN headquarters with the caption, “touring the #CNN center today…or as #Trump would say ‘the home of Fake News’ lol.”
CNN told Mediaite that Hice “has previously displayed a pattern of contempt” for the network on his social media accounts, adding “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.”
Hice’s attorney said that Hice took down his social media accounts the day he filed the lawsuit “because he’s a private citizen and wants to protect himself from CNN” and to say he would put himself through the “painful process” of filing a lawsuit because of a grudge against the network is “ludicrous.”
