Yesterday we told you about Don Lemon’s comment about Nikki Haley not being in her prime on CNN’s morning show and how it upset cohost Poppy Harlow.
Well apparently it upset others as well, including CEO Chris Licht.
Fox News reports that Don Lemon is off today from the show and that was already planned.
But given his comment yesterday, he’s supposed to address his colleagues this morning:
CNN host Don Lemon angered his network colleagues with his remarks Thursday that Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley was past her “prime.”
A CNN insider told Fox News Digital that while everyone makes mistakes, women inside the network were extremely upset with his comments.
Another insider described it thusly: “Everyone’s annoyed… People are definitely upset about it.”
“I was trying to figure out what the hell he was even talking about,” a third CNN insider said. “None of it made sense, it was a stupid thing to say.”
Fox News Digital has learned Lemon is expected to address the matter internally with CNN colleagues on Friday morning.
Lemon apologized on Twitter later in the day, although he notably didn’t mention Haley by name.
“The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day,” he wrote.
A network insider told Fox News Digital that Lemon’s tweet was in response to the feedback he received directly from his female colleagues at CNN. CEO Chris Licht supported the idea of Lemon issuing a statement.
The source familiar with Licht’s thinking said while he doesn’t believe in “cancel culture” and fixating on “Twitter outrage,” Licht was “pissed” about Lemon’s “unforced error,” saying the network CEO is “more sensitive” to how staffers have reacted to the comments.
This is what happens when you try and insult someone without thinking it through. Lemon is a leftist and he wanted to take a swipe at Nikki Haley. But instead of just insulting Haley, Lemon insulted all the women around him and his own CEO.
Speaking of insults, remember this?
The arrogance, the dismissiveness, the smug cackling, the accents.
If Donald Trump wins re-election this year, I’ll remember this brief CNN segment late one Saturday night in January as the perfect encapsulation for why it happened. pic.twitter.com/8kQ6zN9AZV
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) January 28, 2020