Hasan Piker sues Scott Jennings for defamation, seeks $72.5 million over lynching remarks: ‘Each statement was demonstrably false’

Hasan Piker has taken legal action against Scott Jennings, filing a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday that centers on comments Jennings made about a clip from one of Piker’s streams, according to Variety. The complaint argues that Jennings twisted Piker’s words in a way that falsely suggested the streamer supported lynchings.

The comments at issue came during Jennings’ podcast on Aug. 11, when he aired a compilation of Piker clips. Among them was audio in which Piker referred to going “back to a better time when lynchings were happening.” Jennings responded by criticizing the remarks and warning Black voters about what he called the “Piker plan of returning our country to lynchings.”

Attorneys for Piker say the original remarks were plainly sarcastic and aimed at someone else’s argument, not an expression of Piker’s own views. They contend Jennings repeatedly altered the meaning so that it conveyed the opposite of what Piker had said.

Complaint details how Jennings presented the clip and what followed

In the lawsuit, Piker’s lawyers state that the podcast remarks went beyond ordinary political disagreement. “These were not expressions of disagreement with Mr. Piker’s politics,” the complaint reads. 

“Nor were they rhetorical characterizations of an admittedly controversial commentator. They were factual assertions about what Mr. Piker had said and advocated in his work. Each statement was demonstrably false,” it continues.

The suit seeks $72.5 million in damages and claims Jennings presented the matter as fact rather than opinion. “Mr. Jennings was not simply expressing an opinion,” it states. “He was falsely asserting that Mr. Piker had advocated racial violence against Black Americans.”

Piker, who threatened to sue within a couple of days of the podcast, has also pointed to a review by the fact-checking site Snopes. That review examined the unedited stream and concluded that Jennings’ description was incorrect.

“A full review of Piker’s unedited remarks confirms Jennings falsely claimed Piker said he was in favor of bringing back lynchings,” Snopes wrote. “In the original stream, Piker’s remarks on lynchings were sarcastic reactions to a user’s chat comment and opinions expressed by someone else in a separate video.”

Because Piker is a public figure, the case requires him to prove that Jennings either knew the statements were false or showed reckless disregard for whether they were true. He must also establish that the remarks were provable statements of fact rather than protected opinion.

The complaint further alleges that the comments damaged Piker’s reputation and harmed his ability to earn a living. His lawyers sent a retraction demand to Jennings on Aug. 31 and say they have not received a substantive reply. 

The clip compilation Jennings used had already been circulating for several days through the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The group shared it while highlighting Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, who has appeared alongside Piker. On X, the NRSC posted, “How does Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign surrogate Hasan Piker feel about Black Americans? Watch for yourself.” El-Sayed later responded to questions about Piker.