CNN anchor Don Lemon is denying accusations of misogyny and diva-like behavior laid out in a Variety story that came out Wednesday.
While in Atlanta in the late 2000s, Lemon allegedly clashed with former weekday co-host Kyra Phillips, made a mockery of HLN host Nancy Grace on air and complained that Soledad O’Brien (who is Afro-Cuban) wasn’t really Black after she was given the hosting job for the CNN “Black in America” documentary series.
Many of the sources Variety used were anonymous though a few women did speak on the record, including O’Brien and Goldie Taylor, a former CNN consultant.
Variety said it “spoke with more than a dozen former and current colleagues who painted a picture of a journalist who flouted rules and cozied up to power all while displaying open hostility to many female co-workers. Each and every time, he appeared to charm his way out of facing any meaningful consequences.”
A Lemon spokesperson provided this blanket denial to The Wrap: “The story, which is riddled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete evidence, is entirely based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old anonymous gossip. It’s amazing and disappointing that Variety would be so reckless.”
Lemon was recently castigated by his boss Chris Licht after he offended his female co-hosts by saying 51-year-old presidential candidate Nikki Haley was no longer in her prime. But he kept his job.
While co-hosting with Phillips in 2008, she received threatening anonymous text messages that were traced to Lemon and led to his demotion to weekends, according to Variety. It was the last time he was paired with a female at CNN until the recent morning show move.
A CNN spokesperson told Variety: “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.”
Lemon moved from Atlanta to New York soon after Jeff Zucker took over CNN in 2013 and was given his own solo prime-time show in 2016. Licht, who took over last year, placed Lemon on mornings with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. Ratings have not been encouraging though ratings are down across the board in recent months on the network.
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