


Fired CNN prime-time host Don Lemon will reportedly receive approximately $24.5 million as part of a separation deal with the news network nearly a year after his exit.
The settlement equals the amount that Lemon, 57, would have been paid had he been allowed to stay on at CNN through the end of his contract three-and-a-half years from the time of his firing, The Wrap reported.
Lemon was axed from CNN in April after his brief and tumultuous run as a morning show co-host by then-CEO Chris Licht, who was later booted himself.
Lemon’s ouster came just two months after he was forced to apologize for saying on air that as a woman over age 50, GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley was past “her prime.”
The veteran anchor said at the time he was blindsided by his unceremonious dismissal. claiming he learned of it from his agent.
“I am stunned after 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly,” Lemon wrote on social media.
“At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network,” he added. “It is clear that there are some larger issues at play.”
Lemon is now getting ready to launch his own show, “The Don Lemon Show,” on Elon Musk’s X platform in the coming weeks.