One year ago, CNN star Don Lemon was credibly accused of sexual assault.
His accuser says he’s still hoping for justice after the lawsuit against Lemon was delayed because of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Lemon remains on the air.
“It’s definitely been affected by coronavirus, we would have probably already have had discovery a couple of months ago but everything was closed because of the virus in New York,” the accuser, Dustin Hice, told Fox News on Wednesday.
“It was the most degrading, humiliating thing I’ve ever been through and it’s been dragged out,” he said. “I hate it.”
According to the lawsuit, ten witnesses are expected to be called to the stand to testify on whether Lemon — who is openly gay — sexually assaulted Hice while drunk at a bar in 2018. Hice was bartending at the time, and his supervisor has corroborated his story.
“Mr. Lemon, who was wearing a pair of shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, 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 in Plaintiff’s moustache and under Plaintiff’s nose,” the lawsuit claims, going on to detail the lewd remarks Lemon whispered to Hice.
Lemon has denied the accusations, and claims Hice was trying to extort him.
Since the accusation first went public, Hice says he’s faced harassment and has deleted all his social media presence.
Hice told Fox News that the lawsuit against Lemon is going forward slowly, but has finally reached the discovery phase.
“The witnesses are going to be deposed, the facts are going to come to the light,” Hice said. “I’m very confident that when this is all said and done, that he will be held accountable.”
Since the credible sexual assault claim was filed, Lemon has faced little backlash. While other on-air media personalities have faced swift backlash over sexual assault allegations, Lemon has remained largely unscathed.
Once the facts in the case finally become public, it’s unlikely that will remain the case.