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https://www.foxnews.com/media/don-lemon-accuser-lawsuit
Fox News obtained a Joint Proposed Discovery Order that was filed in New York’s Eastern District on Friday.
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It’s been almost a year since Hice filed an explosive lawsuit against Lemon – who is openly gay -- accusing the “CNN Tonight” host of the lewd act. "[Lemon] 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 into Plaintiff's mustache and under Plaintiff's nose," according to the lawsuit, filed August 11, 2019 in Suffolk County Court.
“We have now moved into the discovery phase and we have some time here… we all are going to be deposed. The witnesses are going to be deposed, the facts are going to come to the light and I’m very confident that when this is all said and done, that he will be held accountable,” Hice said.
Lemon offered a six-figure settlement before talks broke down and the formal complaint was filed, according to Hice.
“My life has essentially been on pause. He’s been stalling and he’s actually tried to have it thrown out twice but both times he was denied. It’s not going away,” Hice said. “He did this in front of a room full of people and they all saw what he did. He’s offered me a substantial amount of money to make this go away and I have denied it.”
CNN did not immediately respond to a series of questions from Fox News, including a request for comment regarding Hice’s claim that Lemon offered him a six-figure settlement.
Lemon has adamantly denied wrongdoing. On June 3, his attorney wrote in a court document that that Lemon is “often subjected to racist and homophobic harassment” and “strangers” often approach him in public, at “times intrusively and repeatedly." Lemon’s attorney also called Hice’s allegations “speculative, hypothetical, unsupported by any reasonable methodology” and “not cognizable as a matter of law.”
Lemon’s attorney, Caroline Polisi, declined comment.
Lemon allegedly asked a crude question about Hice’s sexual preference during the alleged physical confrontation, leaving him “shocked and humiliated,” according to the suit. The incident allegedly occurred at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern, in the prestigious Hamptons area east of New York City in July 2018.