Don Lemon has been terminated by CNN, the anchor introduced on Monday simply hours after he’d ended his morning broadcast.
“I used to be knowledgeable this morning by my agent that I’ve been terminated by CNN. I’m surprised,” he tweeted in a fiery post saying his exit. “After 17 years at CNN I’d have thought that somebody in administration would have the decency to inform me straight. At no time was I ever given any indication that I’d not have the ability to proceed to do the work I’ve liked on the community. It’s clear that there are some bigger points at play. With that mentioned, I need to thank my colleagues and the various groups I’ve labored with for an unimaginable run. They’re essentially the most gifted journalists within the enterprise, and I want all of them the most effective.”
CNN CEO Chris Licht confirmed the information in a memo to community staffers: “CNN and Don Lemon have parted methods. Don will perpetually be part of the CNN household, and we thank him for his contributions over the previous 17 years,” he wrote. “We want him effectively and will likely be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
CNN disputed Lemon’s characterization of his termination in an announcement. “Don Lemon’s assertion about this morning’s occasions is inaccurate,” wrote the community’s PR store. “He was supplied a chance to fulfill with administration however as a substitute launched an announcement on Twitter.”
The sudden exit ends a tumultuous 12 months for the star anchor, who has seemingly generated one unfavourable headline after one other for a community beneath siege by monetary losses and management adjustments.
Lemon was moved to mornings with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins in September, simply greater than a 12 months after his primetime present was given an eponymous title. It was a transfer CNN publicly marketed as “no stronger mixture of expertise” however was privately thought of a last-ditch effort to save lots of the anchor’s job.
Then the hits saved coming. CNN This Morning premiered in November to rankings that had been paltry in comparison with its predecessor New Day—and have since not improved. Tensions additionally brewed between Lemon and Collins, partly sparked by feedback Lemon would make on girls.
Lemon lamented in December—precisely a month after This Morning premiered—that skilled feminine soccer gamers shouldn’t be paid as a lot as male gamers as a result of the lads had been “extra fascinating to observe.” He was roundly criticized by each Collins and Harlow, prompting Lemon to attempt to backtrack and defend his place by saying “not everyone, truthfully, has the identical ability.”
“You’re proper that not everybody has the identical expertise as a result of the ladies have higher expertise,” Collins informed him on the time.
The saga continued all through 2023, when Lemon was benched for every week after claiming Nikki Haley “isn’t in her prime” to run for president. The second left each Harlow and Collins in shock and had them each reportedly storm off the set, in accordance with the New York Put up.
Lemon later apologized, each publicly and internally, and agreed to bear inside coaching over the remarks. Nonetheless, his previous feedback about feminine co-workers had been uncovered in a Selection report earlier this month that detailed his retaliatory efforts towards feminine colleagues that he believed usurped him for outstanding positions inside CNN. The community blasted the report on Lemon’s behalf on the time, saying the story was “riddled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete proof.”
However Lemon’s habits, each in previous years and in current months, appears to recommend there was extra occurring behind the scenes.
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