Following through with a threat, streamer Hasan Piker filed a whopping eight-figure defamation lawsuit against a conservative commentator with allegations of “actual malice.”
Throughout the midterm election cycle, the Mao Zedong-cosplaying Piker has garnered a lot of attention, particularly as leftist elected officials and those running for office rubbed shoulders with him. After facing criticism over a video montage that included remarks on lynchings and racism, the streamer filed suit against Salem Media’s Scott Jennings, alleging a broadcast featured a “fabricated quotation” as he demanded compensation of at least $72.5 million.
“Mr. Jennings did not merely mischaracterize something Mr. Piker said. He took a fake, 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,” argued the suit seeking a jury trial in Washington, D.C.
As was previously reported, during an August broadcast of “The Scott Jennings Show,” the host ran a montage of Piker’s remarks with the banner “Let’s go back to a better time when lynchings were happening,” wherein the streamer could be heard saying in part, “Can we go back to a better time when lynchings were happening?”
Hasan Piker tells Scott Jennings to lawyer up after fiery CNN accusation https://t.co/76BGmtkZVu via @BIZPACReview
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) August 17, 2026
Jennings also shared the clips on X under the caption, “Abdul El-Sayed’s best pal and campaign partner says the USA should resume lynchings against black people. Listen for yourself and understand what the socialists have in store for the black community.”
As of publication, the X post has garnered nearly 3 million views.
Abdul El-Sayed’s best pal and campaign partner says the USA should resume lynchings against black people.
Listen for yourself and understand what the socialists have in store for the black community https://t.co/N3ntbIHefw
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) August 12, 2026
According to the court document filed Tuesday, Piker’s remarks shared by Jennings were taken out of context from an October 2024 livestream wherein the Democratic Socialists of America-promoting pundit was reacting to a debate mocking a conservative black man’s criticism of woke district attorneys and their impact on black Americans.
“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 filing cited the plaintiff from the original stream.
The suit alleges the clip Jennings aired omitted context that would have presented the remark as sarcasm, and the same went for the remarks in the video where Piker was heard saying, “yes, dude–it’s because I’m racist. That’s why. It’s because I’m f*cking racist, dude. You got me, okay, you got me. Because I’m a f*cking racist person.”
It also cited the caption that appeared on screen during Jennings’ broadcast as a “fabricated quotation” to accuse the conservative of “actual malice.”
In seeking at least $27.5 million in compensatory damages and $45 million in punitive damages, the defamation suit further claimed that Jennings “had a financial incentive to publish provocative accusations against a prominent left-wing commentator with millions of followers.”
Additionally, court documents claimed Jennings had a “professional and political incentive” since his name was being bandied about as a successor to Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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