Former newscaster Don Lemon announced he’ll be hosting a new show on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after being ousted from CNN last year following a series of controversial on-air comments.
X announced a series of new partnerships Tuesday including shows with Lemon, former Rep. Tulsi ... [+]
X said the new partnership would give Lemon a platform to host “The Don Lemon Show” three times a week in 30 minute episodes that cover politics, sports, culture and entertainment.
Lemon called X “the biggest space for free speech in the world” in a post announcing his show, which will initially air exclusively on the platform.
Also on Tuesday, X announced partnerships with sports radio commentator Jim Rome to exclusively stream a show five days a week on the platform and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to distribute “an exclusive series of documentary style videos.”
“I know now more than ever we need a place for honest debate and discussion without the hall monitors,” Lemon said on X. “This is just the beginning so stay tuned.”
It’s unclear when or if Lemon’s new show will air elsewhere.
Lemon’s reemergence onto the news scene comes less than a year after he was fired from CNN after spending 17 years at the network. The last few months of his tenure at CNN, when he co-hosted “CNN This Morning” with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlin Collins, were some of the rockiest. Lemon made a number of controversial comments about women including a claim that 51-year-old Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley “isn’t in her prime,” which led to a suspension from the network. He also reportedly “screamed” at Collins, his co-host, for “interrupting” him during broadcasts—behavior that was not a one-off, according to Variety, which found that Lemon had a history of verbally baratting and insulting former female colleagues. When Lemon was fired in April, he blasted the network for its decision, saying: “I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly.” CNN called Lemon’s account of his firing “inaccurate” and said “he was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.” Since then, Lemon has maintained a low public profile.
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