He continued: ‘At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play. With that said, I want to thank my colleagues and the many teams I have worked with for an incredible run. They are the most talented journalists in the business, and I wish them all the best.’ Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
Network CEO Chris Licht confirmed the firing in an internal message, thanking Lemon for 17 years on air and telling staff he would ‘forever be a part of the CNN family.’ Licht added that he was ‘committed’ to the success of CNN This Morning, the flailing morning news show Lemon had been helming with anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. Lemon signed off from the show at 8:56am Monday morning, saying ‘Bye everyone,’ with a wave. Little more than three hours later at 12:14pm, he announced his surprise firing in a tweet. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
Lemon has been mired in controversy in recent months following mounting claims about his misogyny at the network. During a segment of CNN This Morning in February, Lemon said that women who were older than 40 years old were ‘past their prime,’ causing outrage among staffers and viewers alike. He made the comments while discussing presidential candidate Nikki 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 on the topic because ‘a woman is in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.’ Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
Harlow and Collins responded with apparent incredulity to the comment, only for Lemon to double down and insist that if viewers ‘Google it’ they would see he was right. Both co-anchors reportedly stormed off the set after the segment, and Lemon’s position at the network was cast into doubt as staffers and viewers alike called for his sacking over what they said was just another incident in a long pattern of troubling misogynistic behavior from Lemon. Sources inside CNN told DailyMail.com that female were telling management to pick between them and Lemon, saying ‘if Don doesn’t go, others have threatened to quit.’ ‘People are hurt by his actions and are not going to let this go. It is like every woman over 50 in America has taken this as a personal insult. The female staffers at CNN definitely have. He needs to make his vacation a permanent one,’ the source said. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
Lemon was not ousted at the time however, and instead was forced to deliver an apology to staffers, saying ‘What I said came out wrong and I wish I hadn’t said it. I believe women of any age can do anything they set their minds to. The people I am closest to in this organization are women.’ Lemon rose to glory in the Trump years while as CNN’s primetime liberal mouthpiece under the leadership of former CEO Jeff Zucker. But after Trump left office and CNN’s ratings started to plummet, Zucker was ousted and his replacement, Licht, vowed to return CNN to more even-keeled journalism. Last November Lemon was bumped to CNN This Morning, where he broadcast alongside the 40-year-old Harlow and 30-year-old rising star Collins, and reportedly spent the following months griping about his new posting. Things started on the wrong foot when Harlow and Collins accused him of mansplaining why the US men’s soccer team should get paid more than women’s – despite the team’s lack of success. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
Lemon insisted that he was joking when he said that men were ‘more interesting to watch,’ and added ‘You cannot make people become interested in something they are not interested in.’ Upon receiving swift pushback from Harlow, he quickly caveated his opinion with the blanket statement, saying ‘I’m not sexist.’ Days later during a December 8 segment, Lemon steamrollered through Collins as she tried to get a word in during a discussion about the release of Brittney Griner. During the obviously tense exchange, Collins could be heard trying to offer insight, while an obviously irritated Lemon at first appeared to ignore her, then looked right at her as he continued on with his sentence. After pausing for a moment, Lemon continued speaking without once acknowledging what Collins had said. He spoke for a further 40 seconds before allowing Collins into the discussion. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
The incident reportedly sparked a ‘screaming’ meltdown from the former primetime host, who was irate at Collins for interrupting him, according to the New York Post. Licht was supposedly stunned at the news and told Lemon to take the following day off to ‘cool off.’ After a particularly icy on-screen reunion following reports of Lemon’s meltdown, Collins was sent to Capitol Hill to cover President Biden’s State of the Union Address. After Collins finished a broadcast of an interview to the show, Harlow began praising her reporting before Lemon suddenly cut in to talk about the importance of fact-checking. Harlow pressed on to say, ‘That’s why we have Kaitlan Collins on the Hill fact-checking in real time,’ but Lemon continued ‘I just cant believe that we’re here’ and forced producers to stop commercial-break music to finish his point. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
Things came to a head in February during the discussion about GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s proposal that politicians ages 75 and up should face mental competency tests, Lemon said discussing age in politics was ‘the wrong road to go down,’ then quickly went down that road. ‘She says people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, when a woman is in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,’ he said. Harlow cut Lemon off, asking ‘What are you talking about? Prime for what?’ before Lemon pressed on while insisting ‘That’s not according to me.’ ‘It depends. 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. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
‘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. I’m just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politics are not in their prime, and they need to be in their prime when they serve. She would not be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is.’ Throughout the interaction, Lemon directed all of his comments to Harlow, while Collins remained out of the fray. Later during the show when CNN podcast host Audie Cornish joined and questioned Lemon’s point, he refused to back down. ‘The idea of prime that you Google on the internet, that’s about sexual and reproductive prime, that’s not actually about mental health and aging.’ Cornish said. ‘No one is going look at Nikki Haley and say, ‘is she in her prime or not?” Lemon responded, ‘Eh, I don’t know.’ Pictured: CNN anchors Kaitlan Collins, from left, Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow appear at the 16th annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute on Dec. 11, 2022. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
Harlow reportedly stormed off the set after the exchange, according to a report from the New York Post . Lemon’s comments left CNN staffers upset about yet another questionable incident involving the beleaguered host, according to The Daily Beast . ‘There were grumbles of mansplaining,’ a source said, ‘And how much longer the women should have to be talked down to before there’s a change.’ Numerous staffers also complained internally about Lemon’s show, the Daily Beast reported. Back in September, Lemon was also accused of misogyny after asking a Republican panelist SE Cupp (pictured), 43, whether she was suffering from ‘mommy brain’ after losing her train of thought. After Cupp finished her point, Lemon ignored what she said and instead focused on her verbal lapse. ‘Is it fair to say this, because I’m not a mommy, but is it mommy brain?’ he asked. Cupp appeared bewildered by the question as a silence hung over the panel for a moment. ‘No,’ she finally said, drawing the word out, ‘I just forgot what I was going to say.’ Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
Lemon’s behavior towards women goes much farther back. In 2018 he was called out for repeatedly interrupting two female commentators on a panel, then told another male panelist to not interrupt and let the women finish their points. Then in June 2021, Lemon was called out on social media in June of 2021, accused of interrupting and being rude to panelist Brianna Kielar. The pair had been discussing then-president Trump and the Republican party, where Lemon described him as the ‘Wizard of OZ.’ Host Brianna attempts to make a point, and Don quickly says, ‘hang on Brianna, please,’ and continued on with his opinion. Some on Twitter said he ‘dressed down’ his female co-worker, accusing him of talking to women ‘just like Donald Trump.’ Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12008221/Don-Lemon-FIRED-CNN.html?ito=msngallery
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