2023-04-24 18:53:00
“Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years,” CNN CEO Chris Licht said in a memo to staff. “We wish him every success and will encourage him in his future endeavours.”
American journalist Don LemonPhoto: Jewel SAMAD / AFP / Profimedia
Lemon was the host of “CNN This Morning” with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. The show ran for almost six months.
“We’re committed to making it successful,” Licht said of the morning show.
In a statement of his own, Lemon said his agent told him Monday morning that CNN had fired him.
“I’m amazed,” Lemon said, claiming management didn’t have the “decency” to directly inform him of his firing. “At no point was I given any indication that I wouldn’t be able to continue doing the work I loved at the network,” Lemon added
CNN contradicted Lemon, calling his version of events “inaccurate.”
“He was offered the opportunity to meet with management, but instead released a statement on Twitter,” the network said in a statement.
Lemon joined CNN in September 2006. Prior to “CNN This Morning,” Lemon hosted the prime-time show “Don Lemon Tonight” for over eight years.
He gained significant notoriety during the presidency of Donald Trump for his off-the-cuff comments regarding the former president, dismissing his lies and calling him a “racist”.
He was widely criticized for sexist comments he made on “CNN This Morning” in February.
During an on-air discussion regarding Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s proposal that older politicians take proficiency tests, Lemon claimed that Haley, 51, is “not in the prime of life.”
Lemon said a woman is “considered to be in her prime only in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.” Co-hosts Harlow and Collins hit back, but Lemon doubled down.
He later apologized to the CNN audience and station management.
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