Prominent CNN host Don Lemon on Monday announced that he has been fired after 17 years at the cable news network.
“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN,” Lemon wrote in a statement posted on Twitter. “I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly.”
The network confirmed the news in a statement.
“CNN and Don have parted ways,” CNN Chief Executive Chris Licht said in a statement. “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
The move came as CNN began facing resistance from advertisers and potential guests for the morning news program “CNN This Morning,” which Lemon co-anchored, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment.
Lemon was briefly suspended in February after he made offensive comments about when a woman is past her “prime” while speaking about 51-year-old Republican former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
In an unusual move, Licht told staff in a memo announcing Lemon’s return from suspension that the anchor would undergo “formal training” — most likely diversity, equity and inclusion instruction from parent company Warner Bros. Discovery’s human resources department.
