Don Lemon says he has been fired by CNN: ‘I am stunned’

 

Don Lemon says he has been fired by CNN: ‘I am stunned’

 

Star anchor Lemon, 57, says ‘I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated’ as network confirms exit

 

Martin Pengelly

@MartinPengelly

Mon 24 Apr 2023 17.47 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/apr/24/don-lemon-fired-cnn

 

The anchor Don Lemon said on Monday he had been fired from CNN – the news breaking after word of another major US media departure, that of Tucker Carlson from Fox News.

 

“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN,” Lemon, 57, wrote on Twitter not long after appearing on CNN This Morning, the revamped show on which he was a co-anchor with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.

 

“I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought 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.”

 

CNN said: “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.”

 

In February, Lemon was rebuked by the CNN chairman, Chris Licht, and briefly taken off-air over televised remarks about Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor now running for the Republican presidential nomination.

 

Haley “isn’t in her prime, sorry”, Lemon said, adding: “A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”

 

Haley is 51.

 

Lemon apologised, saying, according to CNN: “I’m sorry that I said it. And I certainly see why people found it completely misguided.”

 

Announcing his firing on Monday, Lemon said: “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.”