CNN Pays Don Lemon $24.5 Million To Settle His Lawsuit After Being Fired For Making Sexist Comments About Nikki Haley

CNN has paid Don Lemon $24.5 million in order to settle his separation deal nearly 10 months after he was fired for his sexist remarks about Nikki Haley.

The comments that Lemon made on CNN This Morning on February 16 enraged his co-anchors, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, who then went into the bathroom. This controversy started with a proposal Haley made during her presidential announcement speech about instituting a mental competency test for politicians who are over 75 years old.

“This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable,” Lemon shared. “I think it’s the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. A woman is considered to be in their prime in [their] the 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”

“That’s not according to me,” he then said after Harlow responded in shock. “It’s like, prime. If you look it up…. if you Google when is a woman in her prime, it’ll say 20s, 30s, and 40s. I’m just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politicians are not in their prime and they need to be in their prime when they serve. Because she wouldn’t be in her prime according to, you know, Google.”

Lemon faced backlash on social media and was forced to give a public apology.

He announced on April 24, 2023 on X that he was fired from his role as CNN anchor by using an image showing a screenshot of this statement, stating that his agent informed him that “he was being terminated but that no one told him directly.”

Despite his complaints, he still thanked his “colleagues and the many teams” that he “worked with for an incredible run.”

Lemon had agreed to undergo “formal training” before returning to CNN This Morning.

Variety published an article in early April raising accusations by several former and current colleagues that he had a long history of mistreating women at work.

“Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate,” CNN Communications wrote on April 23, 2024 on X as a counterstatement to the former anchor’s post. “He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”

Two months after giving his public apology and agreeing to participate in formal training, Lemon conducted an interview with Vivek Ramaswamy. This interview was rumored to have left “several CNN leaders exasperated” and contributed to the network’s decision to fire him.

On June 24, 2023, he spoke up during an interview with Rudy Williams of ABC24.

“I have a responsibility not only as a journalist, but as an American, to tell the truth,” Lemon said. “And to abide by the promises of the Constitution, because the Constitution says a more perfect union. Not a perfect union.”

“I’m not a perfect person,” he went on to say. “No one is. In order to fulfill the promise of the Constitution, we have to stand up for what is right. We have to stand up for the truth.”

The separation payout agreement has ended the feud between CNN and Lemon.

On January 9, 2024, Lemon announced his return with a new “show “on X.

He has teamed up with the owner of X, Elon Musk, to announce the premiere of the The Don Lemon Show, a 30-minute production which will appear on this platform exclusively three times a week.

“I’ve heard you… and today I am back bigger, bolder, freer,” he said in a statement that he screenshot and posted on Instagram. “My new media company’s first project is The Don Lemon Show. It will be available to everyone, easily, whenever and wherever you want it, streaming on the platforms where the conversations are happening. And you’ll find it first on X, the biggest space for free speech in the world.”

“I know now more than ever that we need a place for honest debate and discussion without the hall monitors,” Lemon continued. “This is just the beginning so stay tuned.”

Shortly after Lemon was ousted, Collins took over former Chris Cuomo‘s 9:00 p.m. time slot. Phil Mattingly replaced the former CNN This Morning co-anchors and worked alongside Harlow. They both bade farewell to this show after it wrapped up in early February.

Back in December 2021, Lemon also received backlash from journalistic ethicists for not mentioning his connection to Jussie Smollett while covering the actor’s trial. He also did not mention the text that he sent him.

Smollett had been found guilty of staging a hate crime against himself. He claimed that he was attacked by two white men on the street wearing “Make America Great Again” hats. This attack was thought to be homophobic and racially motivated.

The actor testified in his own defense that he corresponded with Lemon during the initial stages of the Chicago Police Department’s investigation. He brought up his connection with Lemon, adding that he received a text from him warning him that this police department did not believe the assault happened, and instead suspected that the whole act was staged.