WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU A LEMON: 'Diva' Don Lemon's notorious misogynistic behavior at CNN laid bare
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Don Lemon, one of the famous journalists at CNN, has a history of misogyny. It has come to light that his sexist comments about Nikki Haley that she was not a prime candidate as she "isn't in her prime" were nothing new and he has treated fellow female journalists and women the same way.
In one of the instances that happened in 2008, according to Variety, during an editorial meeting attended by roughly 30 staffers, Lemon was very rude to Soledad O'Brien. He even mocked Nancy Grace on air during one of their shows. In fact, he was pulled out of a live telecast with Kyra Phillips because of his provocative stunts.
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Philips was placed on an assignment to Iraq in 2008, something Lemon wanted desperately. The anchor did to stay put and he acted out by tearing up notes and pictures on and inside Phillips' desk. Later on, when she was out with some colleagues, she reportedly received two texts that read, "Now you've crossed the line and you're going to pay for it." Alarmed, she spoke to the higher management at the network who swiftly tracked down the texts to Lemon, two sources who were working there at that time reportedly said.
Later, he was placed on weekend work and was no longer allowed to work as co-anchor with Phillips, according to Variety. In fact, he was not paired with any female anchors after that, until 'CNN This Morning With Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins'. A CNN spokesperson reportedly said, "Don says the alleged incident never occurred and that he was never notified of any investigation. CNN cannot corroborate the alleged events from 15 years ago."
It was around this time that Lemon, who was 41 at that time and had not come out yet, started dating a young 22-year-old staffer who had just left college. They would drive to work together and decided to start a long-term open relationship. At that time, dating someone junior was taboo. “As fast as you could make a rule, Don would bend it,” a senior executive at that time said.
One of his most controversial comments was from 2014, when he reportedly told a Bill Cosby accuser that she could have stopped the attack by "biting the comedian's penis." At that time, many of the staffers saw Lemon's way of reporting changing, becoming very callous when it came to women. A female colleague who knew him from his early days in his career said, “I saw a new Don emerging, and I didn’t like the new Don. He likes celebrity. He likes fame, likes power. He was no longer the same person."
What were the repercussions of Don Lemon's Nikki Haley comments?
From CNN chairman Chris Licht to Haley, people from all quarters censured Lemon for his “unacceptable” and “sexist" comments. This seemed like the end for Lemon, as a lot of colleagues too wanted him out. However, after a "committing to doing better" apology on Twitter, he was back at the network on February 22, almost a week after the comments. Even Michelle Yeoh referred to the moment when she was giving her Oscars acceptance speech.
Previous colleagues called Lemon a "shameless name dropper" who loved showing off that he interacted with some great people including Stedman Graham, whose handwritten note he stuck to his computer. He constantly claimed he sued Tower Records and Chicago PD for racial profiling, and won and that the settlements were enough for him to live comfortably.
Attorney Paul Rosen, who represented Tower Records in the civil suit, reportedly said, “I thought he was a quality person and a pleasure to be in his company. I remember him working with me on a number of cases I had in Philadelphia [after the settlement] and it’s a pleasure to see [him] on air and what he has achieved in the broadcasting field.”
Before even the Phillips incident took place, Lemon mocked Grace on air by mimicking her, shocking many colleagues. He also called a producer fat to her face. An insider said that Grace “thinks he’s an ass” and that he was always “rude, dismissive and really unfamiliar with the [news] content being discussed.” “That was the beginning of when you knew that Don was kind of volatile and didn’t say good things about women,” a person who saw what had happened said.
Don Lemon's 'Diva-like' behavior
Lemon was upset that O’Brien was given the opportunity of hosting CNN’s 'Black in America' docuseries, which launched in 2008. This led to him accusing her of not being Black. “Don always wanted to be front and center on anything high profile, especially anything involving race,” a colleague reportedly said. 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.” O'Brien told the outlet, "Don has long had a habit of saying idiotic and inaccurate things, so it sounds pretty on brand for him."
Lemon had developed a "Diva-like" persona at that time, people who worked with him at that time said. When CNN was allowed to send one journalist into the Staples Center to cover the Michael Jackson memorial in 2009, Anderson Cooper and O’Brien anchored outside while Lemon reported from the memorial. However, he went on a whinge on social media, claiming Cooper got more airtime.
After Jeff Zucker was hired in 2013, Lemon's claims became more outrageous. Suggesting the Black community should fix its own problems, he reportedly said, "Walking around with your ass and your underwear showing is not OK. In fact, it comes from prison when they take away belts from the prisoner so that they can’t make a weapon. And then it evolved into which role a prisoner would have during male-on-male prison sex. The one with the really low pants is a submissive one. You get my point.”
How did Lemon get away with all of this? Some say it was because he was close to then-Turner Broadcasting System chairman and CEO Phil Kent that made him more brazen, per Variety. "Don was told, ‘Look, you’ve got to address your behavior. Your performance as a reporter is great. It’s your behavior that’s gotta improve. It’s what’s going to derail you if you’re not careful," a senior executive said.
Goldie Taylor, a former CNN consultant, revealed she was blacklisted at the network for disagreeing with Lemon. “I am personally banned from a network b/c, ironically enough, I dared disagree w/ a black man publicly abt black life […] I don’t throw rocks and hide my hand. That network is @CNN and the anchor is @donlemon,” she tweeted in 2016. Taylor told Variety, “I’m never surprised when Don gets in trouble,” she tells Variety. “It makes me neither happy nor sad to see him undermine his own success. There was a time when it appeared that Black people were most often the subject of his ire. Now, it seems to me that when he says something offensive, there’s almost always a woman on the other side.”
The connection between Don Lemon and Jussie Smollet
Soon, Lemon had his own show, 'Don Lemon Tonight.' His popularity grew by leaps and bounds after Donald Trump called him “dumb as a rock."
In 2021, disgraced actor Jussie Smollett told court that he first learned that Chicago police doubted his story about being the victim of a MAGA-inspired attack after he received a warning text from Lemon. As a result, Lemon decided to not to hand his phone records over to cops.
In this context, Washington State University journalism professor Ryan Thomas said, “Ethically speaking, we can distinguish between conflicts of interest that should be avoided and conflicts of interests that, if they can’t be avoided, should be mitigated and disclosed. [The Smollett case is] very clearly in the former category. … Involving yourself in a story involving a public figure — whether to warn, advise or coach — is as clear and bright and flashing an ethical red line as it gets in journalism. A freshman journalism student would clearly recognize the problems inherent.”
However, CNN found his behavior to be appropriate. A spokesperson reportedly said at that time, “CNN reviewed the incident in question at the time and found that any interaction was an act of journalism as Don was attempting to prompt a response from Mr. Smollett and book him for his show."