NASHVILLE — Alexis Wilkins filed a defamation lawsuit in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday against MS NOW, journalist Ken Dilanian, and reporter Carol Leonnig. The suit alleges the defendants published a “malicious and defamatory hit piece” that falsely accused her of abusing FBI resources. The lawsuit claims MS NOW relied on “sham” anonymous sources to assert that Wilkins demanded—and that FBI Director Kash Patel ordered—federal agents from her security detail to escort an intoxicated friend home after a “night of partying.” At the time of the alleged incident, Wilkins did not have a security detail assigned to her, according to the filing.
Wilkins, a country music singer and actor, does not drink alcohol. Her lawsuit states she is “sober” and that she “very rarely drinks, if ever.” Before the MS NOW article was published on December 5, FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told reporter Ken Dilanian that Wilkins “doesn’t even drink,” according to the lawsuit.
Although the MS NOW article did not explicitly accuse Wilkins of drinking, her lawyers argue it constructed a false impression that she was intoxicated, which they say reasonable readers would infer. The lawsuit contends this portrayal directly and proximately caused her humiliation and actual damages to her professional identity, reputation, and standing in the community.
Wilkins is seeking a jury trial and more than $75,000 in damages. MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler responded in a statement: “We stand firmly behind MS NOW’s reporting. As a general matter of practice, we don’t comment on ongoing legal matters.”
MS NOW was formerly a unit of NBCUniversal under the brand name MSNBC. In early January, NBCUniversal spun off its cable channels into a separate publicly traded company called Versant Media Group.