Free Speech

Hasan Piker's Defamation Suit Against Scott Jennings Isn't As Simple as It Seems

Proving that Jennings acted with "actual malice" might be difficult.

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 10.30.2026 3:06 PM

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(Illustration: Adani Samat. Photo: Poisonwithahawkseye/Wikimedia Commons)

A lesson from this lawsuit filed by lefty streamer Hasan Piker against podcaster and CNN contributor Scott Jennings: Never be sarcastic. Never use hyperbole. It will always come back to bite you.

I happen to like hyperbole and sarcasm, though. So, I'm sympathetic to Piker's plight. Still, I'm not 100 percent certain he will—or should—win this case.

Two years ago, Piker, reacting to a debate in which a black conservative commentator complained about "woke" district attorneys, sarcastically summarized the commentator's argument during a Twitch broadcast:

He said, "We need more Klansmen, okay? Can we go back to a better time when lynchings were happening? This is what I like as a Black man. Also, there's no real racism in America." My man said, "woke DAs," dude. What are you saying?

That doesn't seem like the most charitable way to describe the dude's comments. Perhaps Piker has some problems with overreaction. But in any event, it's clear that Piker himself was not professing a yearning to don a white robe.

But context collapse is the internet's love language.........

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