CNN fires Don Lemon, leaving longtime anchor ‘stunned’. Lemon ripped CNN in a statement for not having ‘decency’ to tell him directly.
CNN’s embattled anchor Don Lemon has been fired, he announced on Monday.
Lemon posted a statment on Twitter that he had been fired, calling himself “stunned” and expressing anger that he hadn’t been contacted directly to be informed of his termination.
“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN,” Lemon said. “I am stunned.”
CNN CEO Chris Licht said in a memo that the two outlets had 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 luck and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors,” CNN CEO Licht said in a memo.
Lemon, who has been with CNN for 17 years, has been at the center of various scandals in recent memory but apparently didn’t think his time at the network was coming to an end.
Watch as flight attendant bully Jessie James Decker Pregnant Sister Clean Kids Mess on plane
“After 17 years at CNN I would have though that 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,” Lemon continued. “It is clear that there are some larger issues at play.”
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) April 24, 2023
Lemon then thanked his now-former colleagues.
“They are the most talented journalists in the business, and I wish them all the best,” Lemon said.
Last year, Lemon was pulled from his prestigious solo primetime gig to an ensemble morning show alongside co-anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlin Collins last year, but he insisted the move wasn’t a demotion. In fact, he even went on CNN and said Licht offered him a “promotion.”
It didn’t take long for “CNN This Morning” to make tabloid news after the show’s launch in November 2022.
On Dec. 8, during CNN’s breaking news of Brittney Griner’s release from Russia, there were multiple on-air instances where Collins attempted to interject while Lemon was speaking. At one point, Lemon wagged his finger above the desk and told her “stand by one second.”
While off-air, however, 56-year-old Lemon got “nasty” at 30-year-old Collins, scolding her for interrupting him, which left her “visibly upset,” a source who witnessed the exchange told Fox News Digital.
Watch as flight attendant bully Jessie James Decker Pregnant Sister Clean Kids Mess on plane
The New York Post first reported on the incident, causing headaches for CNN honchos.
Lemon found himself in hot water again in February for claiming Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley was past her “prime” at age 51, citing Google as his source while stunning his female co-anchors in the process. Lemon offered a mea culpa during the network’s editorial call the next day, but female colleagues weren’t pleased.
Colleagues were further enraged when Lemon was spotted on Miami Beach after the insensitive remarks about Haley. Lemon was then ordered to take “formal training” but returned to his struggling morning show just days later.