Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer and associate of Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, sued CNN’s Scott Jennings on Tuesday, alleging Mr Jennings released an altered video to portray him as a racist advocating for the lynching of Black Americans.
The Scott Jennings Show, where Mr Piker alleged Mr Jennings falsely told listeners that the streamer had a “plan of returning our country to lynchings”, while airing a misleading video of his remarks.
At issue was an August 11 episode where the host of The Scott Jennings Show told listeners about Mr Piker’s “plan of returning our country to lynchings”.
Mr Jennings, thereafter, played a video on the show to buttress his claim.
But the streamer argued Mr Jennings posted a video that was a mishmash of three clips dating back to 2024, that made it seem like the “question” he asked about returning to an era of lynching Blacks was a “declaration”.
The streamer insisted his statement was only a question and not the declaration it was portrayed to be.
He accused Mr Jennings of defamation, defamation by implication, and other charges and sought $27.5 million in compensation for damages and $45 million in punitive damages.
The lawsuit also alleged that Mr Jennings deliberately edited out the streamer’s opening words “He said”, which showed he was attributing the statement to another person.
The suit accused Mr Jennings of twisting the streamer’s words, “Let’s go back to a better time when lynchings were happening”, from a “sarcastic question” into a “declaration”.
“Mr Jennings did not merely mischaracterise something Mr Piker said. 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,” the filings stated.