Hasan Piker sues CNN’s Scott Jennings for defamation

Left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker sued conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings for defamation Tuesday over comments Jennings made on his podcast in August. Piker is seeking more than $72 million in damages.

In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., Piker’s attorneys allege that Jennings falsely said on his eponymous podcast that Piker was “out there calling for Black voters to be lynched,” had a “plan of returning our country to lynchings” and that the U.S. “should resume lynchings against black people.”

Piker’s legal team argued that Jennings’ statements about Piker, who has more than three million followers on Twitch and millions more across other platforms, were not opinion but falsehoods. They allege that the video of Piker that Jennings shared with his viewers was “falsified” and heavily edited to take sarcastic remarks out of context.

The lawsuit cites one of Piker’s videos, streamed in October 2024, in which he commented on a debate between a Black conservative commentator and a Black liberal commentator. Criticizing the conservative commentator’s position that “woke” district attorneys harm Black communities, Piker says:

“He said, ‘We need more Klansmen, okay? Can we go back to a better time when lynchings were happening? This is what I like as a Black man. Also, there’s no real racism in America.’ My man said, ‘Woke DAs,’ dude. What are you saying?”

The video was shared by other prominent Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

“Mr. Jennings did not merely mischaracterize something Mr. Piker said,” the lawsuit argued. “He took a false, fabricated, and manipulated video of Mr. Piker, added a made-up quotation that Mr. Piker never uttered, and then made accusations that went beyond even what the manipulated footage purported to show.”

Piker, who has been campaigning with Democratic candidates ahead of the midterm elections, has been at the center of a political firestorm after his controversial 2019 comments about the 9/11 attacks resurfaced, along with more recent comments he made comparing Israel to Hamas.

Several GOP candidates have zeroed in on the social media influencer and his presence on the campaign trail. In response to the criticism, Piker apologized for his 2019 comment that “America deserved 9/11.” Still, Democratic candidates who campaigned with Piker, including Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and Colorado Democratic Congressional nominee Melat Kiros, have since downplayed their relationship to him over the backlash.

Piker’s attorneys said the streamer’s reputation has been damaged because of Jennings, who they characterized as a sophisticated political operative, and that his actions have affected his professional relationships with platforms and advertising partners on which his business relies.

“Mr. Jennings continues to falsely portray Mr. Piker as a violent racist who advocates the lynching of Black people. And Mr. Jennings continues to damage Mr. Piker’s reputation and his livelihood,” the lawsuit said.

Representatives for Jennings did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment on the lawsuit.

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