MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler says the network stands "firmly behind" its reporting
Rebecca KutlerPresident of MS NOW, in a statement responding to a request for comment on the lawsuit
In a statement to NBC News on June 1, 2026, responding to a request for comment on Wilkins's lawsuit, MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler said "We stand firmly behind" the network's reporting. She added that as a general matter of practice the network does not comment on ongoing legal matters. MS NOW's own article on the suit printed the same statement.
Responding to
MS NOW reported on December 5, 2025, citing three unnamed people with knowledge of the incidents, that FBI Director Kash Patel ordered, on more than one occasion, that the security detail protecting Alexis Wilkins escort one of her friends home after what the article calls a night of partying in Nashville, and that Wilkins asked agents at least two times, including once "this spring," to drive the friend home.
“We stand firmly behind MS NOW’s reporting. As a general matter of practice, we don’t comment on ongoing legal matters.”
Reporting
Reporting
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
Reporting
About this source
NBC News's report on the filing of the lawsuit. It says MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler gave the statement quoted here in response to a request for comment, and it quotes passages of the complaint.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
MS NOW's own article on the lawsuit, which prints the same statement from its president. It also describes the complaint's allegations.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Wilkins had filed her complaint on May 29, 2026. It says the article's account is false and that the reporters used unnamed sources who could not have had first-hand knowledge.
After the quotation
The defendants' filings in August say they expect to invoke a reporter's privilege to protect the sources' identity. As of October 5, 2026, we did not find a statement from MS NOW that adds details about the sources or the reported incidents.
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. Kutler says MS NOW stands "firmly behind" its reporting, which includes the reported order, so we used Condemned, which here records an attributed endorsement of the report and no judgment on anyone. The closest competing label is Explicitly stayed out, because her second sentence declines to comment on ongoing legal matters. It loses because that sentence states a general practice on the lawsuit, while the first sentence takes a position on the reporting. The statement does not repeat or add to the report's details.
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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
Wilkins's complaint says Patel never ordered any agent to escort her friends home
“This is entirely false. Director Patel has never ordered any FBI agent or member of Ms. Wilkins’ security detail to escort any of Ms. Wilkins’ friends home—inebriated or otherwise—nor did Ms. Wilkins ask any of them to do so. … No FBI agents have ever escorted any of Ms. Wilkins’ friends home. … Notably, Ms. Wilkins did not have a security detail at that time.”Read statement
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler says the network stands "firmly behind" its reporting
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/4651-in-a-statement-to-nbc-news-on-june
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler says the network stands "firmly behind" its reporting". First published: 2026-10-05. Last updated: 2026-10-05. https://disputeindex.com/events/4651-in-a-statement-to-nbc-news-on-june