At the same time Fox News was parting ways with primetime host Tucker Carlson, CNN was bidding adieu to its own controversial host Don Lemon. Lemon was most recently a cohost of CNN This Morning. Before that and until October 2022, he was the longtime primetime anchor of Don Lemon Tonight.
Lemon, who posted about his exit minutes before the announcement from CNN, quickly claimed that he was terminated through his agent and that he “thought that someone in management would have the decency” to tell him directly. He also suggested that “there are some larger issues at play” but did not elaborate.
CNN dismissed his claims as “inaccurate,” and said he was offered the opportunity to meet with management, “but instead released a statement on Twitter.”
CNN has not elaborated on the reason for the termination but Lemon was put on leave in February after declaring on air that 51-year-old Nikki Haley isn’t a viable presidential candidate because she “isn’t in her prime.” Lemon has also been, for years, at the center of allegations of misogynistic behavior around his female colleagues, but has managed to move past them in one way or another.
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After the host returned from his three days off-air, CNN Chief Executive Chris Licht told staff that Lemon had “agreed to participate in formal training, as well as continuing to listen and learn.”
“We take this situation very seriously,” he added. And perhaps there were serious enough that they finally listened to the outcry and just decided to let him go.
The three days that CNN This Morning aired without Lemon also saw a 5% bump in its ratings. The cable network’s ratings have been in dire straights overall, taking a nauseating 61% dive in March compared to the year before. The numbers for its 25-54 key age demographic, according to the Associated Press citing the Nielsen company, are the lowest they’ve been in decades.
Lawyering Up
Lemon and Carlson will be sharing a termination date and a lawyer. Following what appears to be a sour exit, Lemon has hired Hollywood lawyer Bryan Freedman, the same lawyer Carlson has reportedly retained to handle his Fox News departure according to former CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter and later confirmed by the New York Times.
Freedman is very familiar with hosts “parting ways” with their networks. The famous breakup lawyer represented Megyn Kelly in her case against NBC News in 2019 when she was fired over a year into her $69 million three-year contract. NBC ultimately agreed to pay her $30 million or what would’ve been the remainder of her salary.
Freedman also helped “The Bachelor” host Chris Harrison get a $10 million exit settlement from ABC. Harrison was the host of the show 19 years before he received overwhelming backlash for defending racist behavior.
And he is currently representing Chris Cuomo, the former CNN anchor who was fired in 2021 for helping his brother former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo fight sexual harassment allegations. He is suing CNN for $125 million for wrongful termination.
Neither Freedman, Lemon, nor Carlson have issued statements as of this writing.
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