A bartender who filed a lawsuit against Don Lemon alleging he sexually assaulted him at a bar in Hamptons has dropped the lawsuit, claiming he “misremembered” their meeting in 2018, after his case began to fall apart.
Dustin Hice, 41, accused Lemon, 56, of “putting his hand on the front of his own shorts and vigorously rubbing his genitals, removing his hand and slipping his index and middle fingers into the plaintiff’s mustache under Hice’s nose.”
However, Hice and Lemon’s attorneys on Monday filed a motion to dismiss the 2019 lawsuit after two of Hice’s witnesses disagreed and offered to testify for the defense, and a judge found that the bartender violated the orders to produce evidence had not complied with, reported Mediaite.
In a statement, Hice said: “After much internal reflection and a deep dive into my memory, I have found that my memory of the events of the night in question, when I first met CNN host Don Lemon, was not what I did.” thought what they were when I filed this lawsuit.’
Lemon’s attorney, Caroline Polisi, said the lawsuit was a money robbery from Hice, who previously claimed he was offered $500,000 to settle the case last year.
“This case was a blatant money robbery from the start,” Polisi said. ‘Mr. Lemon never paid the plaintiff a cent during the course of this unfortunate spectacle, and he looks forward to getting on with his life.’
Dustin Hice, 41, dropped his lawsuit against Don Lemon, alleging the CNN host sexually assaulted him at a bar in the Hamptons in 2018. Hice said he misremembered the encounter after two of his key witnesses contradicted him under oath
Lemon, 56, pictured at the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday, has denied the allegations. His lawyer called the lawsuit a “blatant money robbery”
Polisi said she was glad the “abusive lawsuit” could end, adding that it was another attack Lemon had to endure as a gay black man.
“This has been a long and difficult journey for Don,” Polisi said in a statement. “Out of respect for the court process and my advice, he has had to remain silent in the face of a malicious and vulgar attack on his character.
“Unfortunately, as a black gay man, he has had to deal with these types of attacks in the media for quite some time.
“The court’s ruling fully affirms Mr. Lemon and ends this abusive lawsuit.”
Hice had previously said he was with colleagues at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern in Sag Harbor, New York in July 2018 when he met Lemon.
Hice claimed the meeting quickly took a bizarre turn when Lemon allegedly put his hands inside his own shorts, rubbed his genitals and tried to force Hice to smell his fingers.
At that point, Hice said he “escaped the bar” and needed five to 10 minutes to collect himself before he could return to the house after recovering from the incident he claims he was “Shocked and humiliated,” according to the lawsuit.
When he returned, Lemon was gone, while Hice claimed he was “emotionally devastated by Mr. Lemon’s humiliating, unprovoked, and abusive assault.”
However, Hice’s story began to fall apart during the discovery phase of the trial when his two key witnesses contradicted him under oath, with one retracting his testimony in March, Mediaite reported.
The two witnesses were dropped by the plaintiff, but Polisi then updated the defense witness list so they could testify on Lemon’s behalf.
A judge also found that Hice “did nothing to secure relevant evidence here, and in fact got rid of some of it, whether intentionally or not,” according to Mediaite.
Hice was also ordered to indemnify Lemon for more than $77,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs last fall as a result of penalties for failing to comply with evidence orders.
On Monday, both the plaintiff and the defense filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, also barring Hice from future attempts to amend or refile the lawsuit against Lemon.
Hice alleges that he was with colleagues at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern (above) in Sag Harbor on or about July 15, 2018 when Lemon approached him and sexually assaulted him
Hice’s key witnesses to the alleged incident were dropped by the plaintiff but were later picked up by the defense to testify. Hice was also ordered to pay Lemon $77,000 in legal fees (above with his husband at their Hamptons home days before the alleged incident).
Polisi also criticized media coverage of the lawsuit, claiming that coverage of the case was skewed against Lemon.
“I hope that many in the media have learned their lesson about misreporting facts and jumping to conclusions,” Polisi said. “The coverage of this story by many outlets was a case study for unethical and uninformed reporting.”
Hice has previously appeared on Fox News and The Megyn Kelly Show when he made his false claims and also blasted CNN last December, which was reeling from the allegations against host Chris Cuomo.
Cuomo was fired from the media giant for his involvement in defending his disgraced brother from sexual assault allegations, with Hice appearing on Fox and calling CNN a “network full of predators and perverts”.
CNN had defended Lemon, alleging that Hice had an agenda against the news outlet, saying in a statement, “The plaintiff in this lawsuit has previously displayed a pattern of contempt for CNN on his social media accounts.
“This claim follows his unsuccessful threats and demands for an exorbitant amount of money from Don Lemon.
Don categorically denies these allegations and the matter merits no further comment at this time.’