Don Lemon is off CNN until Wednesday because of his ‘women’s prime’ comments. Here’s what happened

»Update: Don Lemon says he was fired by CNN

CNN anchor Don Lemon will return to his show, CNN This Morning, after making a controversial comment about “women in their prime.”

In response to Lemon’s commentary — and the backlash he received — the anchor was off-air for three days. Now, according to CNN, he’s set to return and will be required to participate in sensitivity training.

Here’s a recap of what happened.

During Thursday’s episode, Lemon and his coanchors, Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow, were discussing former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s freshly announced run for the Republican nomination for president in the 2024 election.

Haley, 51, has focused her campaign on the advanced age of fellow politicians. President Joe Biden is 80, and former President Donald Trump, who already announced his campaign, is 76. Last week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D. Calif.), who is 89 and the longest-serving member of Congress, announced plans to retire at the end of her term.

The average age of members of the U.S. House of Representatives is 57.9 years while the Senate’s average age is 65.3 years.

Haley said there needs to be “generational change” and said she supported a “mental competency test” for lawmakers who are over age 75. Collins, Harlow, and Lemon were discussing that when things began to derail.

“All the talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think it’s the wrong road to go down,” Lemon started. “She [Haley] says politicians, or something, are not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, when is a woman is considered to be in her prime? In her twenties and thirties, maybe forties.”

Lemon’s women costars appeared to be taken aback.

“[Their] prime for what?” Harlow asked Lemon, but he doubled down.

“That’s not according to me. It’s just like ‘prime,’ if you look it up,” he said. “If you Google ‘When is a woman in her prime?’ it’ll say, twenties, thirties, and forties. I’m not saying I agree with that.”

Harlow responded, “Are you talking about prime for childbearing or prime for being president?”

“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Lemon replied while talking over Harlow. “I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it.”

Tensions were high, people on set told the New York Times, with Harlow leaving set during a commercial break. Harlow also sat out a segment with CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, but returned.

On air, CNN correspondent Audie Cornish told Lemon “the ideas of ‘prime’ that you want to Google,” refers to “sexual and reproductive prime.” Lemon deflected, saying he was not criticizing Haley, but reacting to her critique of older politicians.

The show closed with a conversation about Tiger Woods, 47, and his golf performance.

“Seventy-two holes in four days,” Collins said. “[That’s] only something that someone in their prime could do.”

Harlow said to the camera, “Touché, Kaitlan” while Lemon laughed.

Lemon’s comments sparked a surge in search queries, Google Trends data reveals. But, results now include a generous number of stories about Lemon.

Aside from those news articles, search results include a handful of unreliable and questionable links.

A quick scan shows Google doesn’t have an authoritative answer for when a woman’s in her prime, nor can it seem to define what “a woman’s prime” means.

Since his comments Thursday, Lemon’s name has been trending.

Actress Patricia Heaton, 64, who is best known for playing Debbie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond, implored women on Twitter to list things they’ve accomplished after turning 50.

“Hey Ladies — @donlemon thinks women over 50 are past their prime,” she wrote. “Let’s start #prime time and list some of the things we’ve accomplished in these glorious later years.”

Heaton listed accomplishments included producing a movie, writing and publishing a book, creating an Emmy-winning TV show, and seeing her four sons graduate from college.

Other women followed suit, including Alison Levine, 56, who served as team captain for the first American women’s Everest expedition as well as Canadian sports anchor Jody Vance, 55.

Haley also responded to the anchor on Twitter.

“To be clear, I am NOT calling for competency tests for sexist middle-aged CNN anchors,” she wrote. “Only for people who make our laws and are 75+.”

Though he was not on-air for Friday’s show, Lemon called into the newsroom and apologized to the morning show crew, the New York Times reported.

“I am sorry,” Lemon said. “I did not mean to hurt anyone. I did not mean to offend anyone.” He added that his closest colleagues are women, nodding to anchors Dana Bash and Erin Burnett.

Lemon also apologized on Twitter, calling his comments “inartful and irrelevant.” Critics continued to call him hypocritical and sexist.

Rumors swirled that this would be the incident that got Lemon fired from CNN. Lemon, a former NBC10 reporter, has a history of televised gaffes that, as noted by GQ, range in severity.

Infamously 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 “Black people.”

A CNN spokesperson said Lemon’s three days away was not a formal suspension.

As noted by the Los Angeles Times, CNN This Morning, which debuted in November, was supposed to mark a new chapter. But it has had a rocky start, with on- and off-air 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.

CNN chairman Chris Licht — who took over the network in May and touted CNN This Morning as his signature project — told staff he was “disappointed” by Lemon.

“His remarks were upsetting, unacceptable and unfair to his cohosts, and ultimately a huge distraction to the great work of this organization,” Licht told his staff, according to a recording of the call the New York Times obtained.

In a memo, Licht said Lemon is set to return to set Wednesday.

“I sat down with Don and had a frank and meaningful conversation,” Licht said. “He has agreed to participate in formal training, as well as continuing to listen and learn. We take this situation very seriously.”

It’s unclear what the sensitivity training will entail.

“It is important to me that CNN balances accountability with fostering a culture in which people can own, learn and grow from their mistakes,” Licht stated.