Don Lemon’s morning show still inexplicably features the demoted host, but the network is tacitly admitting things are not going well as reports come in that the show’s production team is getting a major shake-up.
The New York Post wrote that “[l]ongtime CNN producer Lauren Mensch and Chris Russell, who recently was the executive producer for NewsNation’s ‘On Balance with Leland Vittert,’ will grab the reins from Eric Hall, according to the cable news network.”
As the Post noted, the move comes “amid a flurry of bad publicity” for the former primetime host.
The American Tribune previously reported on an exposed riff between Lemon and his two female co-hosts after he made one of them leave the set crying for repeated interruptions.
Then, perhaps more egregiously, Lemon was ordered to attend sensitivity training after he attempted to paint Republican presidential nominee Nikki Haley as too old for a role in American politics. Haley is 51 years old.
The comment received quick condemnation on set from his on-air partners, and it hasn’t aged well since.
After Haley had announced her decision to run, which itself seems bizarre considering she’s going up against Donald Trump, presumably Ron DeSantis, and at a time when her neocon positions likely won’t resonate at all with voters, Lemon suddenly endorsed “mandatory mental competency tests” for older politicians. Although he made the statement to refer to those older than 75, somehow Haley got thrown into the mix.
He then went on to say that women are considered to be in their prime during their “20s, 30’s, and 40s.”
“I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime, it says 20s, 30s, and 40s,” Lemon said to morning ho co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlin Collins. “And 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 Google or whatever it is.”
Equally egregious was his middle-school reference to using Google to make a point. Why not Wikipedia too?
Lemon was given a short break for those comments and later allowed back on air after going through the HR nightmare of “formal training” related to issues of sexism.
“I sat down with Don and had a frank and meaningful conversation. He has agreed to participate in formal training, as well as continue to listen and learn. We take this situation very seriously. It is important to me that CNN balances accountability with fostering a culture in which people can own, learn and grow from their mistakes. To that end, Don will return to CNN This Morning on Wednesday,” CNN CEO Chris Licht related to staff shortly after the incident.
Hilariously, even the Oscars featured a sharp rebuke against the clown co-host of CNN This Morning. During part of her acceptance speech for Best Actress, Michelle Yeoh from Everything Everywhere All At Once slammed the comments by using herself as an example. Yeoh is 60 years old.
“This is proof that dreams, dream big, and dreams do come true. And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you’re ever past your prime,” Yeoh said in a not-so-subtle jab toward Lemon.
In fairness of sorts to Lemon, who has nonetheless rightfully become the face of CNN’s failures, no one is really thriving at CNN right now. Mediate reported that CNN recently hit a ten-year low mark for key demos in prime time, of which Lemon no longer participates, writing:
February saw CNN hit lows in the demo not seen in over ten years. CNN prime time demo average of 122,000 viewers, while still above MSNBC’s 119,000, marked the network’s smallest audience since 2013. Additionally, CNN’s 89,000 total day demo viewers was its worst showing since 2012. CNN saw a 41 percent drop in total day demo viewers from January, while Fox News dropped 35 percent and MSNBC was down 6 percent.
And the American Tribune also recently covered long-time network personality Anderson Cooper was also getting “shellacked” by the fleeing of audiences. The American Tribune said:
In the latest report, Cooper was shellacked multiple times over by every single Fox News program, with Tucker Carlson attracting 3.29 million total viewers and others like Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, Brett Baier, and Laura Ingraham securing 2.58, 2.63, 2.28, and 1.93 viewers, respectively.
For comparison, Anderson Cooper eeked out a paltry 535,000 viewers. In other words, Fox hosts outgained him by at least four to one. “Yikes” isn’t a strong enough word.
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