Where there’s smoke, there is ash, and it appears as though there’s a lot of history involving Don Lemon and his troubling behavior within the hallways of CNN in New York and Atlanta.
In a bombshell report from Variety’s Tatiana Siegel, Lemon’s poor behavior can be traced back to when he joined CNN as an Atlanta-based co-anchor of CNN Newsroom in 2006.
At the time, Lemon was paired with former CNN anchor Kyra Phillips, and although all looked well on camera, allegedly, all was far from well off camera.
According to the report, “his antipathy toward Phillips was particularly concerning and had many members of the close-knit Atlanta news team on edge. While Phillips was on assignment in Iraq — a high-profile gig that Lemon coveted — he vented his disappointment at being passed over by tearing up pictures and notes on top of and inside Phillips’ desk in the news pod they shared, according to two sources who worked there at the time. When she returned from Iraq, things only got weirder. One night while dining with members of the news team, she received the first of two threatening text messages from an unknown number on her flip phone that warned, ‘Now you’ve crossed the line, and you’re going to pay for it.’ Phillips was visibly rattled and quickly enlisted CNN’s higher-ups to identify the sender.”
Lemon was identified as the sender and was subsequently pulled from the weekday version of CNN Newsroom and moved to the weekend evening editions of the show. The move was considered a demotion at that time, but the added context now gives clarity as to why the move was made.
A CNN spokesperson responded to this charge, saying, “Don says the incident never occurred and that he was never notified of any investigation. CNN cannot corroborate the alleged events from 15 years ago.”
According to Variety, Phillips was not the only one to be subjected to Lemon’s ire. HLN host Nancy Grace and former CNN morning anchor Soledad O’Brien got a taste of the Lemon experience.
Lemon allegedly “mocked Grace on air by mimicking her” to the shock of CNN colleagues, and as for O’Brien, he allegedly was not happy that she was named the host of the Black in America docuseries, which aired on the network in 2008.
During an editorial call for the show, Lemon pointed out that she was not Black, which could be alluded that it did not qualify her to host the series.
Neither Philips nor Grace provided any direct comments on the report. O’Brien did not shy away from commenting, however, saying, “Don has long had a habit of saying idiotic and inaccurate things, so it sounds pretty on brand for him.”
In response to the O’Brien allegation, a CNN spokesperson said, “Don, Soledad, and others have in the past correctly referred to her Afro-Cuban heritage as it is a unique part of her personal story. But Don denies making any related remark in a derogatory way.”
Lemon was also upset other prominent anchors, such as Anderson Cooper, received more screen time during high-profile news events.
Additional details in the report reveal that Lemon disparaged co-workers, blacklisted contributors to his show, was tardy to meetings, had relations with a junior staffer, and boasted about the various lawsuits he allegedly won.
His close relationships with former Turner/CNN executives like Phil Kent and Jeff Zucker may explain in part why he has remained an untouchable commodity over the years.
A spokesperson for Lemon is pushing back on Variety’s story entirely, saying in a statement, “The story, which is riddled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete evidence, is entirely based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old anonymous gossip. It’s amazing and disappointing that Variety would be so reckless.”
Separately, there was the brief suspension Lemon faced after making misogynistic remarks on CNN This Morning towards 2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, stating that she was not in her prime and claimed that a woman is “considered to be in their prime in their 20s, 30s and maybe 40s.” In addition to the suspension, there was subsequent rehabilitation Lemon promised to undergo, something mandated by CNN Chairman and CEO Chris Licht. Lemon issued an apology on Twitter, where he said he was sorry to the network, his CNN colleagues, and CNN audience and pledged to hear and learn as well as commit to do better.
I appreciate the opportunity to be back on @CNNThisMorning today. To my network, my colleagues and our incredible audience — I’m sorry. I’ve heard you, I’m learning from you, and I’m committed to doing better.
See you soon.— Don Lemon (@donlemon) February 22, 2023
However, this, combined with the aforementioned allegations, speaks to a troubling pattern of behavior across Lemon’s 16+ years at CNN.