A representative for former “The Young Turks" reporter Jordan Chariton blasted the outlet for initially publishing the claims on its contributors page without fact-checking their veracity. | YouTube/The Young Turks Ousted 'Young Turks' reporter files $23.5 million suit against HuffPost

A former reporter for the digital program “The Young Turks” is suing HuffPost for $23.5 million, alleging libel and defamation over a since-deleted post detailing allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against him.

In court documents filed with the Supreme Court of New York on Wednesday, Jordan Chariton seeks relief and monetary damages over an article, published in the contributors section of HuffPost, in which activist Christian Chiakulas accused the progressive reporter of committing sexual misconduct against former colleagues, including sexual assault.


The post was later taken down after Chariton cast it as false and defamatory online. (Chiakulas later republished the allegations on a different platform.)

In the lawsuit, Chariton, who is represented by Hawgood, Hawgood & Moran LLP, seeks $20 million in punitive damages from HuffPost for publishing what he called “egregious, reckless, malicious and unwarranted” claims about him. Chariton also seeks an additional $3.5 million for damages to his “personal and professional reputation, business opportunities and livelihood.”

A spokesperson for HuffPost declined to comment on pending litigation. Oath, its parent company, did not respond to a request for comment.

A representative for Chariton blasted the outlet for initially publishing the claims on its contributors page without fact-checking their veracity.

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“The public has a right to know what is journalism versus what functions with a level of fact checking and ethical oversight on par with a bathroom wall,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Trials by social media must not become the law of the land.”

Chariton told POLITICO in November that he was weighing legal action against “The Young Turks,” a popular digital program spearheaded by progressive commentator Cenk Uygur, as well as other outlets that had reported on the allegations of sexual misconduct. The filing on Wednesday signals the first concrete step in that direction.

Chariton, a prominent journalist in the left-wing media, was terminated from “The Young Turks” two days after the allegations surfaced online last month.

Uygur later said that while the organization did not investigate whether any assault took place between Chariton and his former colleagues at another, separate left-leaning news outlet, he had committed a “clear firing offense” by sexually engaging with a subordinate.

“Here’s why we did it: to protect the people that work here and to make sure we have professional employment in place,” Uygur said of the firing during a November broadcast of the program.

Michael Calderone contributed to this article.

