CNN fired presenter Don Lemon on Monday after 17 years on the network, following sexist comments on the air and reports that he mistreated the ladies he worked with during his tenure.
The announcement got here about an hour after Fox News said right-wing TV show host Tucker Carlson was leaving the cable network immediately. It also got here a day after NBCUniversal said CEO Jeff Shell left his role resulting from “an inappropriate relationship with a girl in the corporate.”
Lemon, who hosted CNN This Morning, said his agent informed him of his dismissal on Monday morning. Lemon said he was “stunned” by the news.
“I’d think someone in management would have the decency to inform me directly,” said Lemon Twitter entry Monday. “At no time did I receive any indication that I’d not give you the chance to proceed doing the work I really like with this network.”
Lemon added that “it’s clear there are larger issues at play,” without giving more details.
He appeared on the air on Monday morning as usual before releasing his statement.
CNN, Compliance Unit Discovery Warner Bros, a later Monday questioned Lemon’s account of his departure. The network called Lemon’s comments “inaccurate”, saying that he “was offered the chance to fulfill with management, but posted an announcement on Twitter as an alternative.”
Shortly after Lemon first tweeted that he had been fired, network CEO Chris Licht said the presenter and CNN had “parted ways”.
“Don will endlessly be a part of the CNN family and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years,” the network said in an announcement. “We wish him the very best and might be rooting for him in his future endeavors.”
CNN added that the morning show Lemon hosted alongside anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins would proceed to air. The show has been on air for nearly six months and the station said it was “committed to its success”.
The announcement comes after Lemon faced backlash in February over remarks about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley shortly after she announced her candidacy for the White House.
“Nikki Haley just isn’t in her prime, sorry. A lady is taken into account to be in her prime in her 20s, 30s and possibly 40s,” Lemon he said aired on 51-year-old Haley.
This comment earned him a reprimand from Licht and calls from women’s rights activists to fireplace him.
Lemon has since then He apologised on your comments about Haley.
Licht announced in late February that Lemon would undergo formal training after making sexist comments. The top of the network also said Traffic light earlier this month that each CNN and Lemon have “walked away” from the problem.
Lemon burnout also occurs after an extended variety plot this month, which claimed the presenter had a history of threatening and insulting remarks to female CNN employees.
The report was based on greater than a dozen former and current Lemon associates, Variety told Variety. Most of them spoke anonymously to the portal.
Variety’s report says that, amongst other things, Lemon was furious when in 2008 he was omitted for a reporting project in favor of former CNN correspondent Kyra Phillips. Lemon hosted the CNN show “Live From” on the time.
Phillips later received two threatening text messages from an unknown sender, and CNN executives eventually traced them back to Lemon, in accordance with Variety.
A spokesperson for Lemon criticized the article on the time of its publication, telling NBC News in an announcement that it was “amazing and disappointing that Variety could be so reckless.”
A spokesperson told NBC that Variety’s story is “filled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete evidence, it’s based entirely on unsubstantiated, unsubstantiated, anonymous rumors from 15 years ago.”
Lemon has been with CNN since September 2006. He was a presenter on Don Lemon Tonight for over eight years. website says.
Lemon joined CNN after serving as a presenter at NBC Chicago. He was also a correspondent for NBC News, “TODAY” and “NBC Nightly News”.
His termination got here greater than a yr after CNN fired former primetime presenter Chris Cuomo. The network’s decision followed an investigation by Recent York Attorney General Letitia James that exposed how Cuomo helped his brother and former Recent York Governor Andrew Cuomo reply to sexual harassment allegations.
Cuomo took a lawsuit against CNN last yr in search of $125 million for wrongful termination. This case remains to be pending.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of NBC and CNBC.