Don Lemon fired: CNN star’s journey from prime time to departure
Jack Birle
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CNN host Don Lemon parted ways from the news channel Monday after 17 years with the company capped by a bumpy six-month tenure on the network’s morning show.
Lemon’s last role with the network was as co-anchor for CNN This Morning with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, on which he had several controversies that caused an uproar. Here is a look at Lemon’s short morning show tenure.
DON LEMON FIRED: CNN HOST TERMINATED, NETWORK DISPUTES STATEMENT ON DEPARTURE
Move from prime time to morning
In September 2022, CNN CEO Chris Licht announced a shake-up to the network’s daily programming by naming Lemon, Harlow, and Collins as co-anchors of the new morning news program to air from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays beginning Nov. 1, 2022.
Licht said at the time the trio provided “no stronger combination of talent,” but many called Lemon’s departure from his 10 p.m. show to the mornings a demotion. Lemon defended his move to the mornings on his show Don Lemon Tonight in September.
“I was presented with an opportunity that I can’t pass up at this network, and we have a new boss, who is a morning show impresario. And he wants a morning show that will kick off the editorial direction of the network every single day,” Lemon said. “And I am honored that he asked me to do it. For all those out there that are saying he moved me — he asked me, and I said yes. I could have said no.”
“This is my show,” he added. “I have a contract for this show. I decided that I would take him up on that and take this journey with him, so this is not someone moving me. And by the way, this is not someone saying you must move to the right, Don Lemon, and you must not give so much of your perspective. None of that has happened. All of that is fodder for Twitter, which is not real, so stop it. I was not demoted — none of that. This is an opportunity. This is a promotion.”
Comments on men’s and women’s soccer pay
Lemon caught heat for comments regarding pay disparities between men’s and women’s soccer, saying that men’s soccer players make more because people are more interested in male sports.
“I know everyone’s gonna hate me, but the men’s team makes more money. If they make more money, then they should get more money,” Lemon said on CNN This Morning in December 2022.
“The men’s team makes more money because people are more interested in the men,” he added.
Lemon received pushback from Harlow and Collins, who argued other factors play into the discrepancy and that women should be getting paid the same amount, including saying men and “big media” put women’s sports down in popularity. Lemon continued to insist that more interest in men’s soccer is the reason for the pay difference.
“If there is more interest in a men’s sport, the business people, the people who make money off of sports, will put that on television because we live in a capitalist society,” Lemon said.
Lemon’s reported feud with Collins
Despite the trio of CNN This Morning anchors being billed as having a “rare and palpable chemistry,” Lemon reportedly did not get along with Collins.
A New York Post report alleged that after the Dec. 8, 2022, show, Lemon screamed at Collins for interrupting him on air, leading her to run out of the studio visibly upset. The report also said a source with knowledge of the situation told the outlet that Collins wants to be on set with Lemon as little as possible.
In February, days after the New York Post report was published, Lemon kept the show from going to a commercial break to criticize Collins’s interview with Rep. James Comer (R-KY). Lemon took issue with Collins not pushing back harder on Comer’s claims about Hunter Biden, specifically the use of the New York Post as a “credible source.”
“That’s the time that we’re in, where facts are sort of flexible and you just throw things out there — citing uncredible sources, like citing the New York Post as a credible source and saying that facts are — it’s just, I can’t believe that we’re here,” Lemon said.
Collins interviewed Comer from Capitol Hill while Lemon and Harlow were in the studio. Harlow defended Collins’s interview, and later in the show, Lemon said that Collins had given a “very good interview” and stressed his problem was with Comer’s sources.
Comments about Nikki Haley not being in her prime
Lemon caught himself in hot water later in February by saying that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was not in her prime.
Haley, 51, said as part of her pitch for her candidacy that the country needed to move on from older politicians in an apparent jab at former President Donald Trump, 76, and President Joe Biden, 80.
“America is not past our prime. It’s just that our politicians are past theirs,” Haley said.
Lemon took issue with the comment and tried to assert that Haley was past her prime.
“Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. When a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” Lemon said.
Harlow and Collins pushed back on Lemon’s assertion, with Harlow questioning if he was talking about a woman’s prime for childbearing. Lemon doubled down, saying the age range he provided would appear if you search for when a woman is in her prime.
Lemon did not appear on the show the following day and was subjected to “formal training” for his comments.
Exit from the show
Lemon hosted the morning show alongside Harlow and Collins on Monday with no indication of his imminent departure.
“Bye, everyone,” Lemon said at the end of the broadcast.
Hours after the show had completed taping, Lemon tweeted that he had parted ways with the network.
“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have 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,” Lemon tweeted.
The network confirmed in a tweeted statement that it had parted ways, but in a follow-up tweet, the network said Lemon’s statement was partially inaccurate and that he was offered the chance to speak with management.
“CNN and Don have parted ways. Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors,” the statement said.
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“Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter,” a follow-up tweet said.
Lemon is the second high-profile cable news host to part ways with a network on Monday. Fox News abruptly announced it had parted ways with host Tucker Carlson but has not named a permanent replacement for his 8 p.m. time slot.