A man who claims CNN anchor Don Lemon sexually assaulted him in a bar three years has claimed the behavior may be ‘a pattern’ for the besieged anchor.
Dustin Hice, 40, appeared on Monday’s The Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM even as Lemon’s attorneys have aggressively attempted to discredit his lawsuit in court filings, charging the ex-bartender with withholding critical texts, deleting social media posts and hiding a witness that disputes his claims.
Hice has claimed he saw Lemon at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern in Long Island’s upscale Hamptons in July 2018 and decided to offer to buy him a shot, going over to the newsman and ordering lemon drops – an attempt at humor, he said, claiming he ‘didn’t mean anything derogatory.’
Hice sensationally claimed in his suit, filed in 2019, that Lemon, who is gay, seemingly rejected the shot and walked away but then came back over minutes later and allegedly put his hand down his own pants, rubbing his private parts and then shoving his fingers into Hice’s face while asking the then-37-year-old, ‘Do you like p**** or d***?’
‘Anybody that acts like that in public without any fear of what it might it do to somebody or the consequences it might have, that’s a pattern,’ Hice told host Megyn Kelly Monday after she asked if the anchor’s actions seemed like something he had done before.
Lemon’s legal team has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Accuser Dustin Hice, 40, detailed his alleged encounter with Lemon on The Megyn Kelly Show Monday, even as the anchor’s attorneys have aggressively attempted to discredit his lawsuit in court filings, charging the ex-bartender with withholding critical texts, deleting social media posts and hiding a witness that disputes his claims
‘I wouldn’t be surprised,’ Hice added. ‘He’s protected by the fact that he’s African-American, a gay man, on television, and I’m just some nobody.’
Lemon, a longtime fixture at the liberal news network, is openly gay and has been wed to a man, 37-year-old real estate agent Tim Malone, since 2017, and was married when the alleged altercation took place.
Hice told Kelly during Monday’s interview that he is straight.
He also claimed to the former Fox News host that CNN has apparently tried to pay him off three times – to the tune of $500,000 – in order to settle the lawsuit.
A bartender at The Old Stove Pub in Sagaponack, a village in Southampton, Hice detailed to Kelly how he and a few of his coworkers ended up at Murf’s on or around the evening of July 15, 2018.
Hice said that upon entering the establishment, he recognized the CNN stalwart.
Lemon, a longtime fixture at the liberal news network, is openly gay and has been wed to a man, 37-year-old real estate agent Tim Malone, since 2017, and was married when the alleged altercation took place
‘So I walked in, and I saw him right out of the corner of my eye and sitting in the over to the right,’ Hice recalled to Kelly of the encounter, saying he was then accompanied by his boss, George.
‘He was with a group of a couple other men,’ Hice continued, ‘and I said to George, I said, ‘Look that’s Don Lemon right there.’
‘I decided to approach him, and I said, ‘Hey, Don let me buy you a drink,’
Hice then detailed how, before Lemon could respond, he quickly called to the bartender for a pair of drinks for him and the celebrity – asking for two lemon drops, a play on the host’s last name, Hice explained, saying the cheeky offer was just him ‘being cordial.’
‘I didn’t mean anything derogatory,’ he told Kelly.
According to Hice, Lemon did not seem amused by the off-duty bartender’s attempt at humor, brushing Hice off by saying, ‘I’m just trying to have a good time.’
‘As soon as he said “I’m just trying to have a good time,“ I just walked away,’ Hice told Kelly.
Lemon’s attorneys, however, argued in a court filing that Hice taunted Lemon and ‘repeatedly yelled’ across the bar, but that the host declined.
Hice charges that Lemon came up to him mere minutes later and started speaking to him before launching the alleged assault – which Hice described in detail to Kelly.
In the Monday interview, Hice, 40, described to Kelly how CNN’s Don Lemon allegedly asked him ‘Do you like me?’ and if he liked ‘p**** or d***’
‘So I walk around the bar, um, and about five minutes goes by and he walks, he comes around the bar, and comes up to me, and he says, um, pardon my language, but he says, “Do you like me? Is that why you’re f***ing with me?”
‘And I said, “No, I just wanted to say what’s up.” And I was just like, “What’s this guy’s problem?”’
The ex-bartender also claimed that Lemon made a lewd statement several times during the alleged encounter.
Hice then described in detail how Lemon allegedly fondled his own genitals at the Hamptons bar and used two of his fingers on that same hand to push Hice’s head back while harassing him.
‘I look at my boss, and I look back, and he has his hand in his pants rubbing himself aggressively, and he shoves his two fingers up underneath my moustache, thrusts my head back, and says, “Do you like p**** or d***?”
‘And he said it like two or three times after that, and I just said, “What the hell, man,” and I just ran out the back door.’
Hice claims that he was out with co-workers at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern (above) in Sag Harbor on or around July 15, 2018, when he spotted Lemon
Hice claimed the anchor was visibly intoxicated during the encounter.
CNN did not immediately return DailyMail.com’s request for comment regarding the alleged incident on Tuesday. A network spokesperson has previously publicly slammed Hice as a dishonest opportunist and extortionist looking to capitalize on the chance meeting.
‘The plaintiff in this lawsuit has previously displayed a pattern of contempt for CNN on his social media accounts,’ the spokesperson told USA Today in 2019.
‘This claim follows his unsuccessful threats and demands for an exorbitant amount of money from Don Lemon.’
Over the past three years, lawyers for Lemon have outlined a lengthy discovery process in court filings that saw Hice allegedly admit to deleting numerous social media posts.
Hice described in detail how Lemon allegedly touched his own genitals at the Hamptons bar and used two of his fingers on that same hand to push Hice’s head back while harassing him
Lemon’s attorneys also added that Hice indicated in text messages to a key witness in the case – one of his coworkers who was at Murf’s during the alleged altercation – that the two could potentially score some cash for a collaborative testimony that corroborated his account of the incident.
However, according to Lemon’s legal team, the witness revealed in a court deposition that he did not know if Lemon actually had any physical contact with Hice or not.
What’s more, text messages provided by a third witness showed Hice posing with a Lemon in front of his crotch in front of Lemon’s home.
A second photo in a recent court filing shows Hice and the key witness rolling on Lemon’s driveway.
That witness, who didn’t back up Hice’s account of the alleged altercation, was not put forth as a potential witness by Hice’s attorneys, Lemon’s court filings revealed.
Lemon’s lawyers added that their client is innocent and deny that any instance of assault took place, citing that the anchor ‘is often subjected to racist and homophobic harassment.’
