Ex-CNN Anchor Don Lemon Says Chris Licht’s Firing Makes Him Feel ‘Vindicated’

CNN former star anchor Don Lemon, who was unceremoniously fired in April, said he feels "vindicated" that his former boss Chris Licht was similarly ousted a few months later, he told Kara Swisher in a “Pivot” podcast interview aired Friday.

CNN abruptly fired Lemon after he said 51-year-old GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley "wasn't in her prime." CNN's then-CEO Licht, who fired Lemon, was let go by the network in June following a disastrous profile of Licht in The Atlantic. The 15,000-word profile was widely viewed as one of a series of PR blunders in his yearlong tenure. Licht's firing was announced five days later.

“I read the story, and you speak to the people who are there, and I think people get what happened,” Lemon told Swisher. “So do I feel vindicated in that sense? Yes, I do.”

In February, Lemon apologized on social media after the Haley comment, which many viewed as insensitive.

Lemon eventually returned to the network’s morning show after a brief hiatus. Stipulations, however, were put in place. Lemon said he wasn't allowed to address the issue on the air, "I wish that I could’ve but I was never allowed to,” he said.  

Jeff Zucker, CNN's former president, may have made a different call, Lemon hinted. But Zucker, now chief executive at private equity venture firm RedBird Capital, resigned in February 2022 after disclosing a consensual relationship with a top lieutenant.

“The best news executive that I’ve ever worked for in my entire 20 years,” Lemon said about Zucker. “He understood that when you're in those conversations, just as you are in regular conversations that you have across a dinner table or at a restaurant, you don't always say things perfectly and you're not going to say that on television.” 

Lemon said that Zucker was “supportive” and wanted employees to “not necessarily be provocative, but just to be ourselves.” He added that if something did go wrong, Zucker gave staff grace to apologize and that problems did not “have to be the end of the world or a big issue unless you are looking for a reason to get rid of someone.”

During his time at CNN, Lemon wasn't involved in the strategy and content decisions CNN was making, he told Swisher, adding that Licht and his team wanted to steer the network in a specific direction and that “they did not want me to be a part of that.” Lemon said that Zucker would likely not return to the network. 

“I think that has from what has played out publicly as it relates to CNN as it relates to management and what they're doing now, I think is it's obvious that they didn't want me to be a part of that," Lemon said.

In the next 14 months, Lemon said he has plans to do something that gives him the ability to use his voice and platform.  

“I think I want to do something next that scares the sh--t out of me,” Lemon said. "I had a very successful career in cable news for a long time. I got to do and say exactly what I wanted to. I have and had a very important voice that most people don't get to hear on that platform and still don't. And I expect that to continue, but I am going to lean into the future of this medium and do something that scares me," he added.