Friday, March 29, 2024

Man Accusing Don Lemon of Sexual Assault Drops Case After ‘Deep Dive Into My Memory’

Dustin Hice lawsuit dropped
Dustin Hice / Don Lemon

*The man who took legal action against CNN’s Don Lemon, claiming he was groped by the news anchor in a Sag Harbor bar three years ago, has dropped his lawsuit. 

“After a lot of inner reflection and a deep dive into my memory, I have come to realize that my recollection of the events that occurred on the night in question when I first met CNN anchor Don Lemon were not what I thought they were when I filed this lawsuit,” plaintiff Dustin Hice said in a statement, New York Post reports. 

Hice filed the lawsuit against Lemon in 2019, accusing the openly gay media personality of assault in the summer of 2018, as reported by Fox News.

READ MORE: EURVideoNews: Don Lemon Reports from Airstrike Aftermath Near Lviv

don lemon in suit smiling
Don Lemon (smile) – CNN

In the lawsuit, Hice said he met Lemon, 53, at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern, located in the Sag Harbor town of the Hamptons. Hice offered to buy the TV host a vodka drink called a “Lemon Drop” but Lemon declined. Later in the night, Lemon approached him and that’s when the assault took place.

“[Lemon] put his hand down the front of his own shorts, and vigorously rubbed his genitalia, removed his hand and shoved his index and middle fingers into Plaintiff’s mustache and under Plaintiff’s nose,” according to the lawsuit, filed Aug. 11, 2019 in Suffolk County Court.

“Lemon intensely pushed his fingers against Plaintiff’s face under Plaintiff’s nose, forcing Plaintiff’s head thrust backward as Defendant repeatedly asked Plaintiff ‘Do you like p—y or d–k?’ While saying this, Mr. Lemon continued to shove his fingers into Plaintiff’s face with aggression and hostility,” the suit alleged. 

According to Deadline, US Magistrate Judge Thomas Locke ruled on March 23 that Hice must pay Lemon $77,000 in attorney fees for tampering with evidence and trying to bribe witnesses.

“This has been a long and difficult journey for Don,” Lemon’s attorney Caroline Polisi said in a statement after Hice retracted his allegations. “Out of respect for the judicial process and my advice, he has had to remain silent in the face of a malicious and vulgar attack on his character.”

“Unfortunately, being a gay black man in the media, he has had to deal with these sorts of attacks for quite some time,” Polisi added.

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