Bartender Files Suit Against Don Lemon, Alleging Sexual Harassment

A Hampton's bartender has filed suit against openly gay CNN anchor Don Lemon, claiming that Lemon put his fingers under the bartender's nose after handing his own junk while asking the bartender about his sexual preferences, Yahoo reports.

But before he filed suit, the bartender reportedly made Lemon an offer that the CNN anchor flatly refused: Media sources, including Mediaite, say that the bartender, Dustin Hice, offered not to file the suit if Lemon paid him a cool $1.5 million.

Hice's suit alleges that he was at Sag Harbor bar Murf's Backstreet Tavern last summer after having worked his shift at another Hampton's establishment. Hice claims that he saw Lemon had come onto the premises, and offered to buy the CNN celeb a drink. Lemon declined the offer, but later on, the suit says, Lemon approached Hice. The suit goes on to say that Lemon reached into his shorts and handled himself before then sticking his fingers under Hice's nose. The suit purports that Lemon was "aggressive" and "hostile" toward Hice as he asked him, "Do you like pussy or dick?"

USA Today reports that the suit challenges Lemon's support for the #MeToo movement, alleging that "when the cameras are turned off" Lemon acts in ways that are "in stark and disturbing contrast to the public persona he attempts to convey."

CNN dismissed the allegations, telling Mediate that Hice "has previously displayed a pattern of contempt for CNN on his social media accounts."

CNN added, "This claim follows his unsuccessful threats and demands for an exorbitant amount of money from Don Lemon.

"Don categorically denies these claims and this matter does not merit any further comment at this time."

Reports said that a Twitter account under Hice's name had been deleted as of the day the suit was filed, but noted that an Instagram account post that seemed to be by the bartender showed him in front of CNN's Atlanta building. The post that accompanied the photo reportedly read, "touring the #CNN center today...or as #Trump would say 'the home of Fake News' lol."

Hice's lawyers bit back, telling Mediate:

"The assertion that Mr. Hice would put himself through the painful process of filing a sexual assault lawsuit against his attacker all because he doesn't like a cable TV station is ludicrous."

The lawyers went on to say that Hice "took down his social media accounts on the day he filed the lawsuit against Don Lemon because he's a private citizen and wants to protect himself from CNN's heavy-handed tactics."

Reports say that Hice seeks "unspecified damages" for "emotional pain and loss of earnings."

Lemon recently spoke out on air against what he characterized as President Trump's "racist" rhetoric.

The suit comes in the wake of another CNN personality, Chris Cuomo, being harassed by a man who called him "Fredo" - evidently referring to a character from the movie "The Godfather" - and heatedly responding to what he reportedly viewed as a slur against Italian-Americans.