In a major shakeup to the cable news landscape, CNN anchor Don Lemon announced on Monday that he was fired by the network, which left him “stunned.” This came less than an hour after Fox News said it had parted ways with host Tucker Carlson. Lemon tweeted a message blasting CNN’s leadership, saying that he would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell him directly. However, CNN confirmed the departure shortly afterward but called Lemon’s account “inaccurate,” adding that he was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.
Lemon was a longtime figure at CNN and spent the past five months co-hosting CNN This Morning alongside Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow. He hosted his own primetime show, Don Lemon Tonight, between 2014 and 2022, before he was moved to co-host a new morning show. Lemon’s time on the show was marked by a series of controversial comments he made about women and reported tensions with his two female co-hosts. Lemon was suspended in February after making inappropriate comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and irking his co-hosts by making claims about female soccer players.
Former President Donald Trump applauded CNN’s move, labeling Lemon the “dumbest man on television.” Meanwhile, Fox News unexpectedly announced late Monday morning that it had “agreed to part ways” with Carlson, who anchored the second highest-rated cable news program last year. A reason for the departure was not given, but Carlson was expected to play a major role in a defamation trial in a case Dominion Voting Systems filed against the network. Fox and Dominion settled the lawsuit out of court last week for $787.5 million.
These recent developments at CNN and Fox News have caused a stir in the cable news landscape. It remains to be seen how these departures will affect the ratings and future direction of both networks.