FBI Director Kash Patel’s girlfriend Alexis Wilkins is suing MS NOW over a “sham” report that alleged her boyfriend ordered a security detail to escort a drunken friend home after a “night of partying.”
The country singer accused the left-wing outlet of defaming her with its “false portrayal” that relied on anonymous sources to “push knowingly or recklessly false allegations” that she abused FBI resources and that the reporting besmirched her character.
In its December 2025 report, the outlet claimed that she had demanded, and Patel ordered that agents provide transportation for the inebriated friend, a story that was slammed by FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson as a fabrication. “This is made up and did not happen,” he said at the time.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Nashville, TN, on Friday and names the outlet along with reporters Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian, who wrote the report, as defendants.
🚨DEFAMATION LAWSUIT FILED🚨
FBI Director Kash Patel’s girlfriend Alexis Wilkins has filed a defamation lawsuit against MS Now, formerly MSNBC, reporter Carol Leonnig, and reporter Ken Dilanian.
The complaint centers on a December 5, 2025, MS Now article that falsely claimed… pic.twitter.com/g4HFVrVtx6
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) June 1, 2026
In the lawsuit, Wilkins’ attorneys wrote that the defendants “falsely asserted that Ms. Wilkins demanded, and Director Patel ordered, that federal agents assigned to her security detail—which did not even exist at the time—escort an intoxicated friend home after a ‘night of partying.’ They falsely portrayed Ms. Wilkins as being intoxicated, even knowing that she does not drink.”
“This false portrayal is highly offensive to Ms. Wilkins and would be to any reasonable person in her situation. Ms. Wilkins’ professional identity is of a responsible, sober young woman who does not partake in the excess drinking culture and party scene that is typical for musicians,” Kurt Beasley, Jason C. Greaves, and Jared R. Roberts said in the document.
According to the MS Now report: “Patel’s girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, asked FBI agents on her security team at least two times, including once this spring, to drive her friend home, and agents objected to diverting from their assignment, said the sources, who were granted anonymity to discuss nonpublic matters. But Patel insisted they do as Wilkins requested, and in one case called the leader of Wilkins’ security detail and yelled at him to do so.”
MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler stood by her reporters.
“We stand firmly behind MS NOW’s reporting. As a general matter of practice, we don’t comment on ongoing legal matters,” she said in a statement, according to NBC News.
The attorneys wrote that the outlet’s “false portrayal” of Wilkins “directly and proximately caused” her to “suffer humiliation and actual damages to her professional identity, reputation, and standing in the community.”
The suit says that Wilkins is “sober” and that she “very rarely drinks, if ever.” According to the filing, Williamson told Dilanian – a notorious deep state mouthpiece – that she “doesn’t even drink,” before the article was published.
Wilkins is seeking more than $75,000 in damages and a jury trial, NBC News reported.
The FBI boss has been the focus of a veritable assembly line of hit pieces, including an April report by The Atlantic titled “The FBI Director Is MIA” which alleged that Patel is a paranoid drunkard whose “bouts of excessive drinking” have adversely impacted his ability to carry out his job and that his “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” have “alarmed” DOJ and FBI officials.
Kash Patel’s colleagues are alarmed by what they describe as erratic behavior and excessive drinking—conduct that could cost him his job, Sarah Fitzpatrick reports. She spoke with more than two dozen people with knowledge of his conduct, some of whom described it as a…
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) April 17, 2026
Like MS NOW, the report relied on anonymous sources – that may or may not even exist – for the lurid claims. It also got the outlet sued for defamation by Patel.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.