Ben Williamson posts on X that the report is "1,000% false and did not happen"
Ben WilliamsonFBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs, on his X account
In a post on X at 7:43 AM EST on December 5, 2025, FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs Ben Williamson wrote that the MS NOW report was "1,000% false and did not happen." He wrote that he checked with those involved, who all said it did not happen, and that he found no corroboration or record of it. He also gave his account of the reporter's reply to his request for a date or the friend's name. He did not name the friend.
Responding to
FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson told MS NOW "This is made up and did not happen," and wrote on X on December 5, 2025 that those involved told him it did not happen and that he found no corroboration or record of it.
“1,000% false and did not happen. And I’d like to give some BTS insight into how this hogwash got printed. … all of whom said it didn’t happen. Couldn’t find any corroboration or record of it whatsoever. … I went back to the reporter and said “everyone involved says this is false - can you give me any other info so I can provide some proof beyond just a denial? A date? Name of the friend? Anything.” Their response was: “We do not have that info but are comfortable with our sourcing.””
Original post
Original post
Where this statement fits
Did FBI Director Kash Patel order the security detail protecting Alexis Wilkins to drive a friend home, as MS NOW reported?
On December 5, 2025, MS NOW reported, citing three unnamed people with knowledge, that FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the security detail protecting Alexis Wilkins to escort a friend of hers home after what the article calls a night of partying in Nashville, on more than one occasion. FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson told MS NOW "This is made up and did not happen." Wilkins sued Versant Media Group, which does business as MS NOW, and two reporters for defamation on May 29, 2026, and her complaint says the events did not occur and that she did not have a security detail at the time. MS NOW's president says the network stands behind its reporting. As of October 5, 2026, we found no court ruling on whether the report was accurate or on the defendants' motion to dismiss or transfer (the CourtListener copy of the docket was last updated September 15, 2026), and we did not find a named witness who says on the record that the reported events occurred.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Williamson's post on X, which quote-posts Dilanian's announcement of the report. He writes that he received the allegation on "Tuesday" (December 2, 2025, according to the complaint), checked with "everyone involved" and found no corroboration or record, and gives his account of the reporter's reply to his request for a date or other detail. His description of what Wilkins, Patel and the detail told him is his own account. The reply he quotes differs in wording from the text exchange the complaint prints. The post had more than 748,000 views when we checked on October 5, 2026.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Original post
About this source
A reply in Williamson's own thread. Its two screenshots show the article's sentence before and after the change: the earlier version says he "did not answer questions about multiple inside accounts of Wilkins' detail being diverted, but broadly denied such events took place", and the later one says he "broadly disputed that such events took place".
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
MS NOW had published the report at 10:00 UTC, and Dilanian announced it on X at 12:17 UTC. Williamson's post quote-posts that announcement. The quotation omits a parenthetical remark about Wilkins's drinking that appears in the post's second paragraph; the omission is marked by an ellipsis.
After the quotation
Wilkins replied on X at 14:18 UTC. Williamson wrote at 17:45 UTC that the article's claim that he did not answer questions had been removed. As of October 5, 2026, we did not find a public response from MS NOW, Dilanian or Leonnig to his account of the reporter's reply.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the proposition that, on at least one occasion, FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the FBI agents assigned to protect Alexis Wilkins to escort or drive a friend of hers home, as MS NOW reported on December 5, 2025. Williamson says the report is "1,000% false and did not happen", so we used Denied. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization, because the post also criticizes how the report was sourced. It loses because the post's central statement is that the events did not occur, which goes beyond a criticism of the reporting or its description. His account of what others told him is his own.
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More from this case
Read the full caseDefendants say they wrote the article "in good faith, believing everything in it was accurate"
Versant Media Group
“Defendants thoroughly and responsibly reported the article and wrote it in good faith, believing everything in it was accurate. As a result, Plaintiff will not be able to prove that any statement or implication about her was materially false, much less that Defendants published such a statement with knowledge of falsity or despite a high probability that it was false.”Read statement
Defendants argue that reporting Wilkins's request is not defamatory "even if she did not actually make the request"
Versant Media Group
“It simply reports she asked FBI agents to drive her friend home so the friend would arrive safely – a statement that would not hold a person up to hatred and ridicule in society. … Reporting on her request to the FBI, even if she did not actually make the request, is simply not the kind of thing that would subject Wilkins to “hatred, contempt, or ridicule.””Read statement
MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler says the network stands "firmly behind" its reporting
“We stand firmly behind MS NOW’s reporting. As a general matter of practice, we don’t comment on ongoing legal matters.”Read statement
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Ben Williamson posts on X that the report is "1,000% false and did not happen"
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/4648-in-a-post-on-x-at-7-43
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Ben Williamson posts on X that the report is "1,000% false and did not happen"". First published: 2026-10-05. Last updated: 2026-10-05. https://disputeindex.com/events/4648-in-a-post-on-x-at-7-43