(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – Controversial CNN host Don Lemon has a long history of “appalling” workplace misogyny. A report reveals that he has allegedly threatened or insulted his former colleagues, such as Nancy Grace, Soledad O’Brien, and Kyra Phillips.
In February, Lemon caused outrage by stating that 51-year-old Nikki Haley, a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was not “in her prime.”
Yet, according to Variety’s report, he has had sexist behavior for decades before that, as cited by The New York Post.
The report reveals that the 57-year-old co-host of the program “CNN This Morning” has accused Soledad O’Brien of not being black, told a female producer she was fat, and sent Kyra Phillips a threatening text out of jealousy.
“There was a time when it appeared that Black people were most often the subject of his ire. Now, it seems to me that when he says something offensive, there’s almost always a woman on the other side,” former CNN consultant Goldie Taylor told Variety.
“I’m never surprised when Don gets in trouble,” she added.
Lemon had a fit of rage in 2008 when Phillips was chosen instead of him to cover the aftermath of the Iraq War.
He reacted by tearing pictures and leaving them on her desk, revealed two unnamed persons who worked at CNN at the time. He then allegedly sent her a menacing message.
“Now you’ve crossed the line, and you’re going to pay for it,” read the text. It was sent from an anonymous phone, but that was later traced to Lemon.
As a result, Lemon was demoted to weekends. His spokesperson claimed that the CNN host did not send the text.
“Don says the incident never occurred and that he was never notified of any investigation. CNN cannot corroborate the alleged events from 15 years ago,” the spokesperson said.
Around that time, Lemon mocked Nancy Grace, then a CNN and Headline News anchor, by mimicking her and “stunning fellow colleagues,” the report claims.
A person close to Grace told Variety she considers him “an ass” who was generally “rude, dismissive and really unfamiliar with the [news] content being discussed.”
“That was the beginning of when you knew that Don was kind of volatile and didn’t say good things about women,” said a source who witnessed Lemon mocking Grace.
The report claims Lemon humiliated Soledad O’Brien, who is Afro-Cuban and white, after she became the host of CNN’s high-profile 2008 docuseries “Black in America.”
Two witnesses said in an editorial call with about 30 staffers said O’Brien wasn’t black.
“Don has long had a habit of saying idiotic and inaccurate things, so it sounds pretty on brand for him,” reacted O’Brien, who wasn’t on the phone call.
“Don denies making any related remark in a derogatory way. Don, Soledad, and others have in the past correctly referred to her Afro-Cuban heritage as it is a unique part of her personal story,” a CNN spokesperson told The Post.
In 2007, a year after joining CNN, Don Lemon began dating a 22-year-old junior staffer. He often skipped editorial meetings and was late to the newsroom.
However, his close friendship with Turner Broadcasting chairman and CEO Phil Kent made him immune to disciplinary action. He was also close with CNN President Jeff Zucker, who ran the leftist channel from 2013-2022.
“As fast as you could make a rule, Don would bend it,” commented one senior executive at the time.
