Host Don Lemon wrote Monday that he was fired from CNN and recommended that the transfer was surprising.
Lemon, who most lately hosted CNN’s “This Morning,” wrote on Twitter that he “was knowledgeable this morning by my agent that I’ve been terminated by CNN.”
“It’s clear that there are some bigger points at play,” he wrote in a cryptic assertion.
His firing took place an hour after Fox Information issued a information launch saying that it parted methods with Tucker Carlson. Neither Carlson nor Fox Information has defined why the extensively well-liked primetime host departed the community.
CNN additionally confirmed Monday that the community and Lemon “have parted methods.” It added, “Don will eternally be part of the CNN household, and we thank him for his contributions over the previous 17 years … we want him effectively and can be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
Lemon, nevertheless, indicated in his Twitter assertion that he’s less-than-pleased with the transfer and accused CNN’s administration of not having “the decency to inform me straight.” The firing got here unexpectedly, he mentioned.
“At no time was I ever given any indication that I’d not be capable of do the work that I’ve beloved on the community,” Lemon’s assertion continued earlier than making reference to the “bigger points at play.” Lemon then thanked his colleagues and others he labored with over his tenure at CNN.
In a later assertion, CNN disputed a few of Lemon’s allegations.
“Don Lemon’s assertion about this morning’s occasions is inaccurate. He was supplied a possibility to satisfy with administration however as a substitute launched an announcement on Twitter,” CNN Communications wrote on Twitter.
For months, Lemon has been dogged by controversy. Throughout a reside section in February, the previous CNN host mentioned that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, was previous her “prime,” drawing criticism on social media.
“Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry,” Lemon mentioned on the time, coming after Haley said that candidates over the age of 75 ought to bear psychological competency examinations. “When a lady is taken into account to be in her prime—in her 20s, 30s, and possibly her 40s.”
A report from Selection journal earlier this month, citing nameless sources, claimed Lemon allegedly mistreated feminine colleagues throughout his CNN profession. The report, which claimed to have cited a dozen present and former colleagues, mentioned Lemon was overtly hostile to them.
However Lemon has denied the allegations. “The story, which is riddled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete proof, is fully primarily based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old nameless gossip,” a spokesperson mentioned instructed information retailers in response to the article.
Through the administration of President Donald Trump, Lemon’s CNN present took a leftward shift because the host continuously criticized the president. Trump, in flip, has typically described Lemon as “dumb as a rock.”
His firing, in the meantime, comes about two years after former CNN host Chris Cuomo was terminated from the community after an investigation discovered that he helped his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, battle allegations of misconduct foisted by a number of girls. Cuomo filed a lawsuit in opposition to CNN and is in search of $125 million for wrongful termination, which continues to be pending.
