It took a string of sexist slurs, an interview in which he insulted an alleged rape victim, and wild comments about Hitler and the Nazis, but Don Lemon has finally been dropped by CNN.
In a memo to staff, CEO Chris Licht confirmed the This Morning host’s exit, writing: ‘Don will forever be a part of the CNN family and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years.’
But many of those have been a dizzying array of embarrassing and offensive remarks made by the anchor during his broadcasts.
Donald Trump greeted the news of his sacking by saying ‘the dumbest man on television’ had just been fired by CNN – and the former president wasn’t alone in asking: ‘What took them so long?’
Here DailyMail.com looks back on some of Lemon’s biggest gaffes…
Nikki Haley is 51 years old. Don Lemon, 56, suggested that she was past her prime as a woman
Lemon made his comments on today’s episode of CNN This Morning alongside co-hosts Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow
‘NIKKI HALEY IS PAST HER PRIME’
In February, Lemon sparked accusations of sexism after he said presidential candidate Nikki Haley was ‘past her prime’, prompting an excruciating exchange with his This Morning co-hosts.
Alongside Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow, the show’s anchors were discussing Haley’s proposal that politicians ages 75 and up should face mental competency tests.
Lemon, who at 56 is five years older than Haley, 51, said the politician should tread lightly because ‘a woman is in their prime in their 20s and 30s and maybe 40s’.
Harlow asked him to explain his comment, only for Lemon to double down and insist that if viewers ‘Google it’ they would see he was right.
Lemon made the remark despite having said earlier that discussing the merits of age in politics was ‘the wrong road to go down’.
‘She says people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime,’ he said. ‘Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, when a woman is in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.’
Harlow interrupted, asking: ‘What are you talking about? Prime for what?’ before Lemon continued: ‘It’s just like, prime. If you look it up. If you Google ‘What is a woman in her prime’ it’ll say 20s, 30s, 40s,’ he said. ‘I’m not saying I agree with that. So, I think she has to be careful about saying that, you know, politicians are in their prime.’
‘Are you talking about prime for, like, childbearing? Or are you talking about prime for being president?’ Harlow asked.
‘Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying what the facts are,’ Lemon responded. ‘Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime? It says 20s, 30s and 40s.’
‘MOMMY BRAIN’
Don Lemon asked SE Cupp whether she lost her train of thought because of ‘mommy brain’
Lemon’s Haley comments were the latest in a line of controversies that have sparked accusations of misogyny.
In September, the anchor asked Republican panelist SE Cupp, 43, if she was suffering from ‘mommy brain’ after losing her train of thought.
Cupp was discussing the future of the Republican party when she began stumbling over her words.
Lemon jumped in and attempted to complete her sentence before asking: ‘Did you lose your train of thought? I do it all the time,’ Lemon said.
He then asked: ‘Is it fair to say this, because I’m not a mommy, but is it “mommy brain”?’
Cupp appeared bewildered by the question before answering: ‘No. I just forgot what I was going to say.’
RAPE INSULT
One of Lemon’s most shocking moments was when he asked a woman who claimed she was raped by Bill Cosby when she didn’t bite him to stop the attack.
Joan Tarshis was 19 when she was allegedly twice drugged and raped by the actor in Hollywood in 1969.
In an interview with CNN in 2014, TV anchor Don Lemon told her there were ways women could avoid having to perform certain sex acts on attackers.
‘I had to ask’: CNN presenter Don Lemon presses Bill Crosby rape-accuser Joan Tarshis on why she did not bite the comedian when she was allegedly forced to perform oral sex him
Joan Tarshis, pictured in Saugerties, New York, told MailOnline that she suffered decades of misplaced guilt following the alleged rapes by TV star Bill Cosby
He said: ‘You know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn’t want to do it.’
Tarshis: ‘I was kind of stoned at the time and, quite honestly, that didn’t even enter my mind. Now I wish it would have.’
Lemon said: ‘Meaning the using of the teeth as a weapon, right?’ – to which Ms Tarshis responded ‘yes’.
Not content that he had pushed the point home, Lemon continues crudely: ‘Biting’.
A very uncomfortable Ms Tarshis replies ‘ouch’ before Lemon finishes with: ‘Yes. I had to ask.’
‘TRUMP SUPPORTERS LIKE NAZIS’
In 2021, Lemon hit out at Trump voters for backing ‘for the person who the [Ku Klux] Klan’ and ‘Nazis’ support.
During a conversation about the January 6 Capitol riot, he said: ‘If you are on that side, you need to think about the side you’re on.
‘I am never on the side of the Klan. Principled people, conservative or liberal, never on the Klan side. Principled people, conservative or liberal, never on the Nazi side. Principled people who are conservative or liberal, never on the side that treats their fellow Americans as less than, that says your fellow Americans should not exist … that sides with slavery.’
TRUMP IS LIKE HITLER
Lemon asked whether the news media should give President Trump a platform to ‘spread lies’. Pictured is Trump speaking on stage formally kicking off his re-election bid with a campaign rally in Orlando last night
Lemon questioned the media’s responsibility in covering President Trump
The comments came two years after Lemon sparked fury by comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.
The host had been arguing that ‘bad people’ should not be given a platform to ‘spread lies’.
While handing over to colleague Chris Cuomo, Lemon questioned whether the news media should continue to give Trump so much coverage in the ‘post-truth era’.
The debate began with Cuomo describing the 2020 election as the most ‘definitional’ in his lifetime.
Lemon then asked if those who voted for Trump in 2016 would now question their choice after seeing his first term in office and ‘continue to fall for the o-ke-doke’.
The former CNN Tonight host also questioned the media’s role in covering Trump and asked whether ‘bad people’ should be given a platform.
Lemon said to his colleague to ‘think about the most despicable people in history’ and warned him that he was using an ‘extreme example’.
He asked: ‘I’m going to use an extreme example, think about Hitler, think about any of those people.
‘If you could look back at history would you say, ”I’m so glad that that person was allowed a platform to spread their lies and propaganda?” Or would you say that probably wasn’t the right thing to do to spread that because you knew in that moment that that was a bad person and they were doing bad things and not only were they hurting people, they were killing people.’
Cuomo then stepped in and warned, ‘I think that the example matters’ and pushed back against Lemon.
He responded: ‘That’s a very extreme example – rhetoric that you don’t like, could that be a slippery slope towards violence? Maybe, maybe not.’
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