Don Lemon has been fired from his anchor role at CNN.
Lemon announced on Twitter that his agent informed him of his termination. The news comes after allegations that Lemon had been abusive to female co-workers.
“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. 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. 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,” Lemon said.
NBC News received a memo from CNN CEO Chris Licht on Monday confirming that they had “parted ways” with the anchor.
“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.”
Lemon’s attitude towards fellow colleagues has been a topic of conversation for over a decade. These include allegations of misogyny and outright disrespect, especially towards women he worked with or about whom he reported.
Variety reported earlier this month on an incident as far back as 2008 where Lemon allegedly “disrespected colleague Nancy Grace on the air and Soledad O’Brien during an editorial meeting attended by roughly 30 staffers.”
The outlet highlighted that Lemon was envious of his co-host Kyra Phillips. Phillips received an assignment in Iraq while Lemon remained in studio. This resulted in Lemon putting torn up photos and notes all over Phillip’s desk. He also sent her threatening text messages, including one that read, “Now you’ve crossed the line, and you’re going to pay for it.”
After confirming the text messages Phillips received were sent from Lemon’s phone, he was removed as her co-host and put on weekend desk duty.
Lemon accepted the punishment, but denied these incidents ever occurred.
The most recent allegations against the CNN anchor came in February. During a segment last December, Lemon allegedly yelled at his co-host Kaitlan Collins after they’d had an on-air disagreement.
The New York Post reported, “According to two sources with knowledge of the situation, 56-year-old Lemon approached 30-year-old Collins following the show’s Thursday, Dec. 8, broadcast — and unloaded on her in front of staffers as he accused her of ‘interrupting’ him on air.”
Lemon allegedly screamed at Collins, who was “visibly upset and ran out of the studio.”
News of the explosive incident made its way to CNN CEO Chris Licht. According to a source, Licht was appalled by Lemon’s behavior. He also allegedly instructed a producer to talk with Lemon, who instructed the anchor to take the next day to “cool off.”
The news of Lemon’s departure came on the same day that Fox News announced it would be “parting ways” with it’s highest-paid anchor Tucker Carlson.
