CNN host Don Lemon has filed a legal complaint against former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly.
Kelly, who now hosts her own show on SiriusXM radio, recently talked to Dustin Hice, a heterosexual man who claims Lemon sexually assaulted him.
Hice is suing Lemon -- who is openly gay and married -- and claims he was assaulted at a bar in Sag Harbor in July 2018.
The CNN host has vehemently denied these accusations, with his lawyers accusing Hice of blackmail and extortion.
Read more below.
As The New York Post reported, Hice claims Lemon rubbed his hands on his genitalia before shoving them before Hice's face.
Hice told Kelly that he "wouldn't be surprised" if Lemon sexually harassed other people as well.
"Anybody that acts like that in public without any fear of what it might do to somebody or the consequences it might have, that’s a pattern," Hice said.
"He’s protected by the fact that he’s African American, gay man on television and I’m just some nobody," he argued.
Watch a clip of the interview below.
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In a legal letter, Lemon's attorney Caroline J. Polisi accused Kelly of allowing Hice to make "false and misleading" statements "unchallenged," as reported by Newsweek.
"For years, you have made public statements-on social media, to the press, and on your show-recklessly accusing Mr. Lemon of being biased, of lying to viewers, and of treating his guests unfairly," Polisi's letter claims.
"Although you advertise your podcast as featuring 'honest' conversations without BS' or 'agenda,' your podcast today, in which you interviewed Dustin Hice, reveals that you only pay lip service to journalistic ethics," the lawyer writes.
Polisi claims in her legal complaint that Kelly has a responsibility to offer her listeners a correction, and notes that Hice initially did not even claim Lemon sexually assaulted him.
According to Polisi, Kelly should have "at a minimum" reviewed publicly available filings, which "substantially" undermine the "outlandish story he fabricated."
"You did not pose any questions to Hice about these matters, but instead, accepted his narrative wholesale, leaving your listeners with a lopsided and inaccurate understanding of Mr. Hice's allegations or the strength of the evidence he has against Mr. Lemon," the letter concludes.
As Black Enterprise reported, Hice told Kelly that his lawsuit against Lemon was never about the money.
"This isn’t about me trying to get money… At this point, I just want my life back. I don’t see any kind of settlement happening without an admission of guilt or an apology, but I seriously doubt with his ego and pride that’s going to happen," Hice said, claiming that he is being silenced by Lemon and others.
"Their comments have influenced people to the fact where they’re calling me a liar, and there are many other websites that have taken their words and formulated their own narrative on who I am and what I’ve done and what I’m looking for -- my intentions here," Hice concluded.
