FBI chief Kash Patel’s girlfriend Alexis Wilkins is suing a media firm. Here’s why

FBI director Kash Patel’s girlfriend is at it again. Now, Alexis Wilkins has filed a lawsuit against a media house and its reporters.

Wilkins, a 26-year-old American country music artist, writer and media personality, has constantly been in the spotlight over her controversies.

But what do we know? Why is Wilkins suing a media company and its reporters? What about her past controversies?

Wilkins sues media firm, reporters

Wilkins has filed a lawsuit against news outlet MS Now, two of its reporters and its parent firm Versant Media Group. Wilkins filed her complaint in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee, against the news outlet and reporters Ken Dilanian and Carol Leonnig.

Wilkins is taking action against the media firm over the December 5, 2025, report that she asked FBI agents to take her inebriated friends home after a night of partying in Nashville on at least two occasions.

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According to NBC News, Wilkins has accused MS Now of relying on “sham” anonymous sources to “push knowingly or recklessly false allegations” that she misused FBI resources.

According to The Daily Beast, the suit quoted the article as saying that Patel has repeatedly ordered Wilkins’ security detail to escort her inebriated friends home after partying in Nashville. The article quoted people in the know as saying that Patel has done this at least twice and that the agents had protested against changing their assignment. However, Patel insisted that they fulfil Wilkins’ request and even called up the leader of her security detail and yelled at him.

The defendants “falsely asserted that Ms Wilkins demanded, and Director Patel ordered, that federal agents assigned to her security detail—which did not even exist at the time—escort an intoxicated friend home after a ‘night of partying’. They falsely portrayed Ms Wilkins as being intoxicated even though they knew that she does not drink,” Wilkins’ lawyers wrote as part of the suit, as per NBC News.

Alexis Wilkins has filed a lawsuit against news outlet MS Now, two of its reporters and its parent firm Versant Media Group.

“This false portrayal is highly offensive to Ms Wilkins, and would be to any reasonable person in her situation. Ms Wilkins’ professional identity is that of a responsible, sober young woman who does not partake in the excessive drinking culture and party scene that is typical for musicians.”

According to the outlet, though the lawyers acknowledge that the article does not claim Wilkins was drinking, they argue that Westland Media Group constructed that impression and that reasonable readers of MS Now would come to that conclusion.

Wilkins’ lawyers in the suit claimed that this “false portrayal” directly and proximately caused her to “suffer humiliation and actual damage to her professional identity, reputation and standing in the community”. Wilkins has demanded a jury trial and over $75,000 in damages.

MS Now President Rebecca Kutler said 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.”

Wilkins’ past controversies

Wilkins and Patel have both been enmeshed in controversies ever since he took office. Patel, in October 2025, was accused of using a taxpayer-funded jet to travel to Nashville to see Wilkins perform at the Real American Freestyle wrestling event. The allegation was made by ex-FBI agent Kyle Seraphin, who claimed that Patel used a $60 million FBI jet to travel over the weekend to watch his girlfriend perform.

The accusation quickly spiralled into a controversy about a public official using government resources for personal reasons. What added even more fuel to the fire was that it occurred during a government shutdown when many federal employees had stopped receiving their pay cheques.

Patel, in November 2025, faced fresh criticism after it was reported that he repeatedly used SWAT agents, who are trained for specialised high-risk missions, as well as other government resources to protect Wilkins. The New York Times reported that the SWAT agents had accompanied Wilkins at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Atlanta, where she performed the US national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

FBI Director Kash Patel and his girlfriend Alix Wilkins have constantly been embroiled in controversy. File image/Reuters

That’s not all. Wilkins, that same month, announced she was suing a number of famous podcasters. This came after some accused her of being an Israeli spy and a ‘honeypot’ to ensnare Patel. Wilkins sued conservative commentator Elijah Schaffer, CEO of Rift TV, for allegedly perpetuating “a malicious lie” that Wilkins is an “agent of a foreign government, assigned to manipulate and compromise the Director of the FBI”.

“Schaffer has perpetuated a malicious lie about Alexis Wilkins, falsely claiming that she—an American-born country singer—is an agent of a foreign government, assigned to manipulate and compromise the Director of the FBI,” her suit claimed. It added that Schaffer is “using this fabricated narrative as self-enriching clickbait”, and that Wilkins wants to hold Schaffer “accountable for his malicious and knowing lies”.

Wilkins, in August 2025, filed a defamation lawsuit against Seraphin, claiming he used the accusation as “self-enriching clickbait”.

The suit read: “Seraphin has maliciously lied about Alexis Wilkins, falsely asserting that she—an American-born country singer—is an agent of a foreign government, assigned to manipulate and compromise the Director of the FBI.” Seraphin is “using this fabricated story as self-enriching clickbait”, and “Wilkins seeks to hold Defendant [Seraphin] accountable for his malicious and knowing lies”, it added. Wilkins also sued Sam Parker, an ex-Utah Senate candidate. Wilkins filed the defamation suit against Parker on 31 October.

Patel, in April 2025, filed a lawsuit against The Atlantic and its reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick after the outlet claimed that he had a drinking problem which posed a threat to national security. The story, originally published under the headline ‘Kash Patel’s Erratic Behaviour Could Cost Him His Job’, relied on more than two dozen anonymous sources who expressed concern over Patel’s alleged “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences”, which they said had “alarmed officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice”.

There have also been reports that Trump is considering firing Patel. However, the White House, the FBI and the Justice Department have repeatedly defended the beleaguered FBI director.

FAQs

1. Why is Alexis Wilkins suing the media outlet?

Wilkins alleges that the outlet published false claims based on anonymous sources, suggesting she misused FBI resources and was involved in inappropriate conduct.

2. What damages is Wilkins seeking?

She has demanded a jury trial and is seeking over $75,000 in damages for reputational harm and emotional distress.

3. What controversies have previously involved Wilkins and Kash Patel?

They have faced allegations involving misuse of government resources, security arrangements, and various defamation claims involving public figures and media personalities.

With inputs from agencies