More drama for CNN hosts in the Hamptons.
A New Jersey man is now suing Don Lemon for alleged assault at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern in Sag Harbor, N.Y. last summer.
Mediaite first reported that the lawsuit was filed Sunday evening and the Plaintiff seeks unspecified damages for “emotional pain and suffering.”
An off-duty Hamptons bartender named Dustin Hice alleged in court docs that both men were at Murf’s at the same time. Hice initially offered to buy Lemon a drink, but the CNN Tonight host politely refused. According to the lawsuit, Lemon later returned to Hice. Then it got weird. The lawsuit claims that Lemon, “who was wearing a pair of shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt,” allegedly “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.”
The lawsuit further alleges that Lemon repeatedly shoved his fingers in Hice’s face and asked, ‘Do you like pussy or dick?'” Hice claims he was “shocked and humiliated…and left the bar.” Hice allegedly returned inside Murf’s 5-10 minutes later. Lemon had allegedly left the premises by that time.
A CNN spokesperson responded to the lawsuit, saying “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.”
In a statement to Mediaite, Hice’s attorney at the New York law firm Nesenoff & Miltenberg fired back at CNN’s statement about Hice’s social media posts: “The assertion that Mr. Hice would put himself through the painful process of filing a sexual assault lawsuit against his attacker all because he doesn’t like a cable TV station is ludicrous. Rather, he took down his social media accounts on the day he filed the lawsuit against Don Lemon because he’s a private citizen and wants to protect himself from CNN’s heavy-handed tactics.”
The Plaintiff is apparently asking for $1.5 million total.