Hasan Piker sues Scott Jennings for $72M over a ‘lynching’ clip

Hasan Piker sued CNN commentator Scott Jennings for defamation on Tuesday, Oct 27, in federal court in Washington, D.C. According to the complaint, Jennings aired a manipulated video and a made-up caption to tell his audience that Piker wanted Black voters lynched. Piker’s suit seeks more than $72 million.

Everything below is what the complaint alleges. It is Piker’s side only, and these are claims, not findings.

What the complaint says

NOTUS reports the suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and brings claims of defamation, defamation by implication and false light. On the dollar figure, NOTUS says “more than $72 million.” Deadline, via TVNewsCheck, reports $72.5 million.

The complaint says that on Aug. 11, Jennings told a podcast audience that Piker was “out there calling for Black voters to be lynched.” The filing, as quoted by Reason’s Volokh Conspiracy, adds that he also referred to “the Piker plan of returning our country to lynchings.” It says he later posted on social media that Piker “says the USA should resume lynchings against black people.”

According to NOTUS, the segment was part of a criticism of Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s ties to Piker.

The video at the center

The complaint traces the footage to an Oct. 29, 2024 Twitch stream. Piker was reacting to a debate between two Black political commentators. When the conservative one blamed “woke DAs,” the filing says, Piker mocked him by sarcastically presenting the comment as nostalgia for the era before the civil rights movement.

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.— Hasan Piker, Twitch stream, Oct 29, 2024, as quoted in the complaint

The complaint says Piker introduced that with “He said,” laughed, and ended by questioning the commentator’s argument. It argues his viewers understood it as sarcasm.

It then alleges that in August 2026 a 42-second clip began circulating that stitched together fragments of three separate Twitch streams. In the portions from the 2024 stream, the filing says, the debate footage, the words “He said,” the laughter and the explanation were all cut out.

The caption

The complaint’s central claim is that Jennings did more than replay the clip. It says he added his own on-screen caption presented as a direct quote:

PIKER: “LET’S GO BACK TO A BETTER TIME WHEN LYNCHINGS WERE HAPPENING”— caption on The Scott Jennings Show, Aug 11, as quoted in the complaint

According to the filing, Piker never said those words, and neither the original stream nor the edited clip contains them. It also alleges Jennings told listeners to “listen for yourself” while knowing the video was altered.

What Piker and Jennings have said

Piker addressed the suit on his Twitch stream the same night. “This is about truth in the media,” he said, according to NOTUS. He called the case a “very costly endeavor” and said he plans to start a fundraiser to pay for it and possibly future suits.

Jennings did not respond to NOTUS’s request for comment Tuesday night. Reason’s Volokh Conspiracy says it expects his side to come in a motion to dismiss. He has not responded publicly.

What happens next

Jennings has to respond in court, and a motion to dismiss is the usual first step in a case like this. Nothing in the complaint has been tested by a judge yet.