CNN To Pay Don Lemon $24.5 Million to Settle Firing

CNN fired Don Lemon in April 2023, with three and half years remaining on his contract.  Lemon and CNN finally agreed on separation terms this week, nearly a year later.

The network will pay Lemon $24.5 million, the amount remaining from the day he was fired until his contract expiration date in 2026, The Wrap reported Monday.

CNN, then under the tutelage of CEO Chris Licht, did not publicize its reason for firing Lemon. But Licht and new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery vowed to shift CNN back to the middle and toward a place of respectability – thus undoing the need for Lemon's notorious white-hot liberal rhetoric.

Licht quickly, after he arrived, demoted Lemon from prime-time to a morning show with two co-hosts in Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. 

Lemon frequently clashed with his female co-hosts. Notably, he declared women over 40 "past their prime" during a segment about Nikki Haley, to the vivid chagrin of Harlow and Collins.

"Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry," Lemon said. "When a woman is considered to be in her prime — in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s."

A subsequent report from the New York Post says Harlow "stormed off the set" following the segment. Another report detailed an incident in which Lemon "berated" Collins for talking over him during a segment.

All the while, the show, "CNN This Morning," set record-low viewership in the morning time slot.

Don Lemon

Perhaps the best indication  that Lemon was on his way out was a report from Variety that claimed to obtain "malicious texts" Lemon sent about female co-workers and information about his "diva-like behavior."

See, only employees inside CNN would have had access to the information Variety and The Post reported about Lemon. High-ranking employees, that is.  

Someone in power planted those stories to portray Lemon – perhaps honestly – as a vile, misogynistic dolt. Why would they do that? To ease the inevitable racial backlash following his firing.

And it worked.

Just a few notable voices in the media accused CNN of racism after firing Don Lemon, only to be drowned out by his supposed treatment of women.

Next, Lemon will debut a program on the X platform called "The Don Lemon Show." He says his move to X will allow him to be "bigger, bolder, freer." 

Whatever that means.

At least if the show fails like his two prior, Lemon has $24.5 million to fall back on.