University of California, Riverside, professor and former CNN show host Reza Aslan infamously called Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann’s face “punchable” when the media’s fake news hoax against the Covington kids was in full swing. Nearly one year later, Aslan has deleted his tweet following CNN’s reported settlement with Sandmann. The professor, however, claims that he deleted his tweet in an act of obedience to his wife.

“Honest question. Have you ever seen a more punchable face than this kid’s?” tweeted Aslan on January 20, 2019, along with a photo of Sandmann. Now, nearly a year later, the professor deleted his tweet, just one day after CNN reportedly settled in a lawsuit with the student.

“LOL now Reza Aslan deleted his Covington tweet. After all this time,” pointed out one Twitter user on Wednesday, to which an attorney for the Covington students, Robert Barnes, responded, “Apparently, Reza Aslan got served the suit I filed against him on behalf of #CovingtonBoys.”

Apparently, Reza Aslan got served the suit I filed against him on behalf of #CovingtonBoys. https://t.co/lhgWTOeAeg — Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) January 8, 2020

Aslan, on the other hand, maintains that he did not delete his offending tweet due to the lawsuit but rather because he does everything his wife tells him to do.

“I actually thought I had deleted that tweet a long time ago,” insisted Aslan.

Look I honestly don’t know why you are so interested but you seem like a nice person so I will answer you. I actually thought I had deleted that tweet a long time ago, after I clearly addressed my intention in writing it. https://t.co/D3LCpWetGC — Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) January 9, 2020

“My wife had asked me to delete it and I do whatever my wife tells me to do,” elaborated Aslan in an additional tweet regarding his deleted content. “I realized I hadn’t [deleted the tweet] and so I did. End of story.”

My wife had asked me to delete it and I do whatever my wife tells me to do. Then a couple of days ago, I saw that it had been remarked upon by this felon and adulterer you may be familiar with. I believe his name is Dinesh something. I realized I hadn’t and so I did. End of story — Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) January 9, 2020

“Can you confirm that you been served with a lawsuit in the Covington Catholic case?” asked one Twitter user on Wednesday.

“LOL. No,” responded Aslan.

Aslan, who is also the former CNN host of the show Believer with Reza Aslan — in which he was once seen engaging in cannibalistic behavior when he ate part of a human brain in India — has been named in an August 2019 lawsuit seeking justice for the defamation of nine Covington Catholic students, according to a report by PJ Media.

The report added that the lawsuit alleges Aslan’s tweet referring to Sandmann’s face as “punchable” further pushes the false narrative that the Covington Catholic students had aggressively insulted Phillips.

The lawsuit continues:

False and Defamatory Accusations against the plaintiffs are defamatory per se, as they are libelous on their face without resort to additional facts, and as clearly demonstrated here, [the plaintiffs] were subjected to public hatred, contempt, scorn, obloquy, and shame,” the lawsuit argues. “The conduct of the plaintiffs, based on the false facts the defendants placed and circulated into the court of public opinion, led to these lifetime labels on these minors: ‘display of hate, disrespect and intolerance’; ‘heartbreaking’; ‘decency decayed’; ‘racist’; ‘cried for America’; ‘infamous’; ‘gall’; ‘shameful’; ‘darker chapters’; compared to genocide; ‘laughing and egging on’ ‘hurtful’ behavior; ‘awful’; ‘cavemen gestures’; ‘taunting’; ‘harassing’; ‘stalking’; ‘mocking’; ‘bullies’ who should be doxed, ‘named and shamed’, expelled from school, denied admission to college, be punched in the face, and their lives ruined.

The lawsuit is reportedly asking the court to grant “damages in an amount not less than $15,000 but not more than $50,000 against each defendant” on behalf of each plaintiff, meaning that each defendant — including Aslan — would be hit with a minimum of $135,000 in damages in total.

Aslan is being sued along with other high-profile individuals, such as CNN political commentator Ana Navarro, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), New York Times‘ Maggie Haberman, and leftist comedian Kathy Griffin.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.