This week CNN Tonight anchor Don Lemon yet again found viral fame–this time for his decision to open his show by combining a question, “does this offend you?” with a provocative card, boldly printed with the N-word. Lemon was immediately subjected to a Twitter avalanche of jokes, criticisms, and there-he-goes-agains.
Lemon was responding to President Obama’s use of the N-word in a podcast interview with Marc Maron earlier in the week.
On HLN’s Dr Drew Tuesday night, Lemon explained–and fiercely defended–his decision to use the N-word. To Lemon, it’s not about provoking controversy, but rather, simply being a journalist who doesn’t shy away from what he believes is his obligation to use the word in a proper context:
Not everyone sees it that way, of course, and that includes Lemon’s CNN colleagues Sunny Hostin and Christiane Amanpour:
.@SunnyHostin 1, @donlemon 0: Using N-word removes another brick from the wall of the unacceptable: http://t.co/4Q4gkbbFWW
— Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) June 26, 2015