Lemon out of juice: Don done at CNN

When life gives you lemons, tweet out a catty statement about your former employer

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Don Lemon (Getty)
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Don Lemon announced that he had been officially squeezed out of CNN earlier today.

“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned,” the former anchor and morning show host tweeted. “After seventeen years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger…

Don Lemon announced that he had been officially squeezed out of CNN earlier today.

“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned,” the former anchor and morning show host tweeted. “After seventeen years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play. With that said, I want to thank my colleagues and the many teams I have worked with for an incredible run. They are the most talented journalists in the business, and I wish them all the best.”

CNN’s PR wing later disputed Lemon’s claims. “Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”

The ouster comes after Lemon was accused of psychotic behavior towards female colleagues in a report by Variety. It claimed that the CNN anchor sent malicious, threatening texts to his former co-anchor Kyra Phillips, after she was picked over him for an assignment in Iraq. Don said she was “going to pay for it,” before destroying her desk. 

Lemon also found himself embroiled in controversy after he remarking in February that fifty-one-year-old presidential hopeful Nikki Haley was past her “prime” as she advocated for politicians over seventy-five to take a mandatory cognitive test. Haley responded to the news of fifty-seven-year-old Lemon’s departure from CNN with the tweet: “A great day for women everywhere. Now, let’s get men out of women’s sports. #StillInMyPrime.”

And Haley isn’t the only one delighted to see Lemon go. The New York Times that some guests were reluctant to appear on-air with Lemon and that audience sentiment on Lemon had dipped following his Nikki Haley controversy.

“Haley’s existence getting Lemon to self-destruct should be an asset for her in the primary,” tweeted Semafor‘s Dave Weigel. “(I’m serious, this is a scalp, and he ripped it off and handed it to her.)”

Lemon had been shriveling following the rapid departure of previous CNN head Jeff Zucker. Zucker’s replacement Chris Licht removed Lemon’s buddy Chris Cuomo following allegations that he’d helped his brother, New York governor Andrew, with opposition research into women who were accusing the “Luv Guv” of sexual misconduct. Lemon found himself shunted from primetime to a new morning show with Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow. Needless to say, Lemon did not make fast friends with his young female cohosts (as Cockburn pointed out a couple of weeks back…)

So, who’s set to replace Don in the morning? Cockburn hears that a certain Tucker Carlson is looking for a job…