Don Lemon is FIRED by CNN

Don Lemon has been fired by CNN after 17 years. 

In a statement posted to Twitter, he wrote: ‘I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. 

‘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.’

CNN chief executive officer 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.

Don Lemon tweeted out his outrage that he had been fired from CNN on Monday afternoon

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.’ 

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.

Lemon was not ousted at the time however, and instead was forced to deliver an apology to staffers.