CNN Disputes Don Lemon’s Statement About His Firing

• Don Lemon announced he’d been fired by CNN on Monday and said he found out from his agent.
• “After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought someone would have had the decency to tell me directly,” he said. 
• CNN later said he’d been offered the chance to speak to management “but instead released a statement on Twitter.”

On Monday morning, anchor Don Lemon released a statement announcing that he’d been fired from CNN and saying that he’d been informed of the news by his agent, not anyone in management at the network. “After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought someone would have had the decency to tell me directly,” he wrote. 

Forty-five minutes later, CNN tweeted a statement of its own that called Lemon’s inaccurate.

“Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate,” the network wrote. “He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”

—CNN Communications (@CNNPR) April 24, 2023

Lemon announced his departure just hours after appearing on Monday’s episode of “CNN This Morning.” 

“At no time was I ever given the indication that I would not be able to do the work that I have loved at the network,” he said in his statement, adding that he was “stunned” by the move.

In its initial statement, CNN said Lemon “will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years.”

Last month, Variety published a report detailing a history of alleged misogyny from Lemon. The former anchor responded by saying the story contained “patently false anecdotes and no concrete evidence.”

In February, Lemon was kept off the air for several days after he said GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley wasn’t “in her prime.”

“A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” he said of Haley, who is 51. Lemon later apologized for the remarks.