Don Lemon speaks out about CNN firing, says he feels 'vindicated' after ex-boss was ousted

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Don Lemon out at CNN

The network announced it parted ways with the longtime host on Monday.

Don Lemon is speaking out at length for the first time since his dramatic firing from CNN in April. 

Appearing on Friday's "Pivot" podcast, Lemon told host Kara Swisher that he didn't realize at the time that the network was going in a direction "that I was not a part of." The direction, at the time at least, was to make CNN less partisan after years of hyper liberal, anti-Trump programming. 

"I was not a part of their strategy, and as you just said, they wanted to be centrist, and they wanted to move the network in a certain direction which was, you know, kind of surprising because I think the news is the news and, you know, you don't choose the direction. It just is," Lemon said.

Weeks later, the man who ultimately fired Lemon, CNN CEO Chris Licht, was also canned after internal strife became a PR nightmare for the network. 

"I think that says it all. I mean, what more do I need to say?" Lemon said before letting out a belly laugh. 

"You haven't talked to him, have you?" Swisher asked. 

"No, why on earth would I do that?" Lemon exclaimed. "I have not spoken to him. No."

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Ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon said he feels "vindicated" after his former boss Chris Licht was ousted by the network. (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly)

Lemon was then asked whether he thought Licht's firing "vindicates" him. 

"Yes, I do," Lemon responded. "Read the story, and you speak to the people who are there, and I think people get what happened. All you have to do is read The Atlantic story, read the subsequent stories that came out, and you know, how it played out and they're gone now. So do I feel vindicated in that sense? Yes, I do."

The former anchor revealed he was "not allowed" to address the controversial comments he made about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on his show, something he wished he was able to do. Lemon agreed with Swisher's assertion that Jeff Zucker, the former CNN honcho, would have allowed him to offer an on-air mea culpa. 

Lemon went on to hail Zucker as the "best news executive I've ever worked for" and was later asked about conflicting reports that Zucker, who was ousted in February 2022 for his own controversies, was interested in buying CNN. While Lemon expressed doubt that would happen, he couldn't think of a better person to "save" the flailing network.

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Jeff Zucker, left, was replaced by Chris Licht in 2022. Licht was fired a little over a year later. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

"I think the best person to run CNN was and would be Jeff Zucker. Do I think he's going to go back? No. Do I think he's going to buy it? You'd have to ask him. I doubt it. I don't talk to him about those things. But why would he in this environment? And considering, you know, what's happening now? I mean, why would he want to go back and why would he subject himself to that?" 

"If anyone could save CNN if it needs saving if that's- if you want to put it in that context, it would Jeff Zucker," Lemon added.

He also poked fun at CNN's newly-announced primetime lineup, which he used to have a two-hour block until he was moved to mornings, chucking to Swisher "they needed two people to replace me." 

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Lemon's ousting came following several controversies both on and off the set. Last year, Licht plucked Lemon from CNN's primetime lineup as his viewership was in freefall ever since former President Trump left office to co-host a new morning show with CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow. Lemon repeatedly insisted he was not being demoted despite once having a solo show in what's normally television's most-watched timeslots. 

Don Lemon clashed with his "CNN This Morning" co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins behind the scenes. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for CNN)

The show, "CNN This Morning," launched with dismal ratings. And it didn't take long before off-set clashes between Lemon and Collins made headlines. But that drama paled in comparison to the backlash Lemon received after he ranted about how 56-year-old GOP hopeful Nikki Haley was "past her prime," which was a moment that sparked widespread condemnation that even reached the Biden White House and the Academy Awards. Lemon was forced to issue multiple groveling apologies both to his colleagues and on social media. He later had a fiery on-air spat with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, an incident that was reportedly was linked to his termination. 

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Licht himself met a similar face. While he was given the mountainous task of restoring CNN's journalistic credibility and revive its viewership, Licht struggled to earn the support of the rank and file who opposed the nonpartisan direction their parent company Warner Bros. Discovery wanted to take the network. 

However, the beginning of the end was the tsunami of criticism he faced by liberals as well as many within CNN for the infamous Trump town hall held in March. But it was until The Atlantic published its profile of Licht written by Tim Alberta, who was granted unprecedent access to the CNN honcho, offering candid criticisms of the network before he took over, losing virtually the rest of the good will among network staffers of the little he still had. He was ousted less than a week later.

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