(Headline USA) A bartender who accused CNN host Don Lemon of touching him inappropriately has dropped his sexual assault lawsuit, claiming he misremembered his interaction with Lemon.
Dustin Hice sued Lemon in 2019 and accused him graphically harassing him one night. According to the lawsuit, 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.”
However, Hice claimed this week that his “recollection of the events that occurred on the night in question … were not what I thought they were when I filed this lawsuit.” He said the realization came “after a lot of inner reflection and a deep dive into my memory,” according to the Daily Mail.
Hice only dropped the lawsuit after two witnesses contradicted his story and the judge presiding over the case found that he failed to comply with orders to turn over evidence.
Lemon’s attorney Caroline Polisi released a statement following the announcement, saying the suit was “a crass money grab from its inception.”
“This has been a long and difficult journey for Don. 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,” Polisi said.
“Unfortunately, being a gay black man in the media, he has had to deal with these sorts of attacks for quite some time.”
Polisi also claimed reporting on the allegations against Lemon was “unethical and uninformed,” and reiterated that Lemon never paid a settlement to Hice.
Hice had previously alleged that Lemon offered him $500,000 to drop the lawsuit.
“He’s made three separate attempts almost at a half a million dollars to try and get me to be quiet, but my silence can’t be bought,” Hice said.
“I don’t see any kind of settlement happening without an admission of guilt or an apology,” he added, “but I seriously doubt with his ego and pride that’s going to happen.”
