Famed CNN anchor Don Lemon presently faces a massive lawsuit, which is anticipated to arrive to court shortly. According to Fox News, the lawsuit constitutes a “prolonged legal process” that originates from allegations initially levied in 2018.
In a 2019 lawsuit, Dustin Hice, a former bartender in Sag Harbor, alleged that Lemon visited his bar during a trip to the Hamptons in Summer of 2018. During his visit, Lemon allegedly harassed Hice with inappropriate, vulgar touching.
Hice claims that he saw Lemon arrive at the bar after work, and immediately upon recognizing the famous CNN anchor, he attempted to attract Lemon’s attention to serve him a drink. However, Lemon refused a drink though he allegedly accosted Hice later in the evening, attempting to assault him.
Part of the lawsuit remarks that Lemon, who was dressed casually in shorts and a T-shirt, allegedly moved his down the shorts of Hice, “vigorously [rubbing] his genitalia.” Lemon then allegedly moved his hand away from Hice’s genitalia and “shoved his index and middle fingers into [Hice’s] mustache and under [Hice’s] nose.”
As Lemon continued to “intensely [push] his fingers against [Hice’s] face,” he allegedly interrogated Hice about his sexual preferences, namely if he preferred women or men. As Lemon made his aggressive inquiries, he continued “to shove his fingers into [Hice’s] face with aggression and hostility, according to the lawsuit.
However, Lemon has denied all acts of wrongdoing, and he blasted Hice’s lawsuit as “frivolous.”
Apparently, Hice had demanded $1.5M in payment from Lemon before filing the lawsuit, as reported by The New York Post in 2019.
Nonetheless, Hice is pressing forward, noting that the lengthy discovery process may result in a court appearance around January 2022. He claims that Lemon’s “lewd” and “vile” behavior would have been taken far more seriously if Hice had been a woman.
Hice insists that his lawsuit is motivated by neither “notoriety” nor “fame”; instead, he has launched his lawsuit to stand up for himself, as well as for what he believes in.
“I [have grown] a new respect for people dealing with mental health issues because stress, depression, anxiety, those are all very serious things,” Hice added, noting that these emotions have “consumed [his] life.”
