Media

Hasan Piker puts Ted Cruz on notice after 72-million-dollar suit against Scott Jennings

Filing alleges Jennings spliced three livestreams to portray Piker as advocating lynchings, Trump's 2022 suit against Clinton ended in dismissal and almost one million dollars in sanctions

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Influencer and left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker is introduced during a campaign rally for Wisconsin Gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong on August 2, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Hong, a democratic socialist in the state legislature, has seen an uptick in recent poll numbers. (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images) Influencer and left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker is introduced during a campaign rally for Wisconsin Gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong on August 2, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Hong, a democratic socialist in the state legislature, has seen an uptick in recent poll numbers. (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images) newsweek.com
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Hasan Piker filed a defamation complaint against the commentator Scott Jennings in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, seeking $27.5 million in compensatory damages and $45 million in punitive damages. On Wednesday he addressed Senator Ted Cruz directly on X — "Hey ted you seen this?" — above a news report on the lawsuit.

The complaint describes how the segment was assembled. Jennings, Piker alleges, combined footage from three separate livestreams for the August 11 episode of The Scott Jennings Show, rearranged his comments, and stripped the context of a YouTube debate — then, according to the filing, told listeners that Piker had a "plan of returning our country to lynchings." Piker's position is that the remarks were sarcastic: a reaction to a Black conservative commentator in the debate who blamed "woke DAs" for policies harming Black Americans. Cruz posted that Piker was "calling for Black people to be lynched," sharing a clip and a link to the footage. Piker alleges the material Cruz circulated is the same or very similar to the video from Jennings' show.

The suit lands on a crowded docket. Donald Trump sued Hillary Clinton and others in 2022 over an alleged conspiracy against his presidential campaign; a federal judge dismissed the case and ordered Trump and his attorney to pay nearly $1 million in sanctions. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has filed a multimillion-dollar defamation suit against Fox News. Piker, one of the largest political voices on streaming platforms, has now picked up the same instrument — and pointed it at a sitting senator.

Piker and Cruz have a record. In September, Piker accused Cruz and other Republican officials of trying to prevent him from speaking at the University of Texas at Austin, framing the opposition as a threat to his First Amendment rights. Cruz has called Piker an "America-hating Marxist" who celebrates political violence against Republicans. At the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Cruz told the audience: "When Hasan Piker says America deserved 9/11, believe him" — invoking a remark from an August 2019 livestream, made in response to an interview with Representative Dan Crenshaw. Cruz also questioned why Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed had not disavowed the streamer.

Piker later retracted the 2019 remark, calling it inappropriate and saying he had expressed himself poorly. Cruz was still quoting it at a party convention in September.