Montage: Lemon’s top 5 most liberal moments on CNN
A look back at some of the host’s controversial segments over the last eight years as "Don Lemon Tonight" comes to an end.
CNN's embattled anchor Don Lemon has been fired, he announced Monday.
Lemon posted a statement on Twitter to reveal that he had been terminated, calling himself "stunned" and expressing anger that he hadn't been contacted directly.
"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 Lemon and the network 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," Licht wrote.
CNN and Don Lemon have parted ways, the network announced Monday. A "stunned" Lemon said he had been fired. (Screenshot / CNN / CNN This Morning)
CNN'S DON LEMON ACCUSED OF EXTENSIVE MISOGYNY, SENDING THREATENING TEXTS TO FEMALE COLLEAGUE: REPORT
Lemon, who had 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.
"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," Lemon wrote. "It is clear that there are some larger issues at play."
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.
CNN pushed back on Lemon, saying his account was "inaccurate."
"Don Lemon's statement about this morning's events is inaccurate," its communications team wrote in a statement. "He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter."
Last year, Lemon was pulled from his prestigious solo primetime gig to an ensemble morning show alongside co-anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, but he insisted the move wasn’t a demotion. In fact, he 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.
On Dec. 8, during CNN's breaking news of Brittney Griner's release from Russia, there were multiple on-air instances in which 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, Lemon got "nasty" at Collins, scolding her for interrupting him, which left her "visibly upset," a source who witnessed the exchange told Fox News Digital.
The New York Post first reported on the incident, causing headaches for CNN bosses.
Lemon found himself in hot water again in February for saying that 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.
Don Lemon has a long history of controversial rhetoric. He was fired by CNN on Monday. (CNN screenshot)
Colleagues were further enraged when Lemon was spotted at Miami Beach after the insensitive remarks about Haley. Lemon was then ordered to take "formal training," but he returned to his struggling morning show a few days later.
A CNN insider told Fox News Digital in February that Lemon had "no defenders" inside the network over the situation and everyone was still "pissed." If he were forced out, "it would probably be welcomed by a lot of people," they said at the time. "I think there's an array of people who maybe like him personally, not professionally."
Lemon's "prime" comments were universally panned and not just by conservatives, receiving mockery from Biden spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre during a White House briefing and even making its way to this year's Oscars ceremony. Best Actress winner Michelle Yeoh told women in Hollywood, "Don't let anybody tell you, you are ever past your prime."
Those remarks were hardly the first time Lemon’s on-air rhetoric sparked backlash among female viewers.
In 2014, he infamously asked a Bill Cosby accuser why she didn’t simply bite his penis to prevent an alleged rape. Last September, he asked CNN analyst S.E. Cupp if she was suffering from "mommy brain" after she lost her train of thought during a panel discussion. In December, Lemon clashed with his female "CNN This Morning" co-hosts while arguing male athletes make more money than women because "people are more interested in the men."
DON LEMON'S 'PATHETIC' APOLOGY FOR SEXIST REMARK SPARKS EVEN MORE FURY INSIDE CNN: ‘F-----G A--HOLE’
Don Lemon appears to have noticed a photographer who spotted him on vacation in Miami Beach while he was engulfed in controversy. (MEGA / GC Images / File)
His recent streak of alienating female viewers comes after years of alienating conservative audiences, which was encouraged when CNN was run by Jeff Zucker, who was forced out of the network last year.
Lemon, one of CNN's most openly left-wing voices, has compared Trump supporters to Ku Klux Klan members, defended Antifa, and fumed over people unvaccinated against coronavirus "taking up the space" in hospitals, among other news-making moments.
CNN INSIDERS SAY DON LEMON HAS 'NO DEFENDERS' AT THE NETWORK, NOT WORTH THE HEADACHE TO KEEP ON-AIR
Earlier this month, Variety published a bombshell report that revealed scandalous allegations about Lemon. The allegations included claims he sent threatening text messages to a colleague from a burner phone and repeatedly exhibited misogynistic and "diva-like" behavior. At the time, CNN defended Lemon and called the report "riddled with patently false anecdotes" and "based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old anonymous gossip."
Licht, who has been on a crusade to "tamp down spectacle" at CNN, initially kept Lemon around during a housecleaning that saw polarizing hosts such as Brian Stelter exit.
"CNN This Morning" failed to resonate with viewers and suffered through ratings woes throughout Lemon’s run. It’s unclear who will replace him on CNN’s morning show.
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn and David Rutz contributed to this report.