Don Lemon says he was fired by CNN: ‘I am stunned’

Longtime CNN anchor Don Lemon announced Monday morning he was fired by the network.

In a statement shared on social media, Lemon said it was his agent who told him that CNN had suddenly terminated him.

“I am stunned,” Lemon wrote. “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.”

In the network’s own tweet, CNN refuted Lemon’s claims, calling them “inaccurate.”

“He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter,” CNN Communications tweeted.

Lemon alluded to “larger issues at play,” such as a recent suspension after suggesting 2024 Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was no longer “in her prime” because she was 51 years old.

» READ MORE: Don Lemon's ‘women’s prime’ comments explained

Shortly after the news of his firing dropped, Haley tweeted the link to a beer koozie that says, “Past my PRIME? Hold my BEER.”

Lemon had been cohosting the network’s new morning show, CNN This Morning, alongside Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. He appeared on air Monday morning ahead of the news.

In an email to CNN employees, CNN CEO Chris Licht wrote that Lemon and the network have parted ways, and that he “will forever be part of the CNN family.”

“CNN This Morning has been on the air for nearly six months, and we are committed to its success,” he said.

Earlier this month, Licht spoke highly of Lemon, calling him a “lightning rod” who is “getting incredible reporting” on his morning show.

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Lemon’s most recent controversy with his comments about Haley wasn’t his first with the network. As noted by GQ, he’s had a history of televised gaffes.

For example, in 2013, around the time of the George Zimmerman trial, Lemon played a clip where Bill O’Reilly criticized the Black community. Lemon said O’Reilly hadn’t gone far enough and then offered offensive recommendations to the Black community.

CNN This Morning with Lemon, Harlow, and Collins was supposed to mark a new chapter for the network and for Lemon. But it got off to a rocky start with on- and off-screen tensions.

In December, Lemon reportedly screamed at Collins off camera because she interrupted him on air. According to the New York Times, Lemon has lamented the network’s declining prime-time ratings to some colleagues.

Prior to joining CNN in 2006, Lemon worked as a reporter for NBC Philadelphia, NBC News, Today, and NBC Nightly News.

Over the weekend, former Sixers great Charles Barkley and CBS Mornings coanchor Gayle King announced they will host a new prime time show on CNN. The one-hour live show is expected to air Wednesday nights in prime time beginning in the fall of 2023.

”We don’t want to say we’re a liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat. That’s one of the things that’s already ruined television in general,” Barkley said on TNT Saturday night.