Embattled “CNN This Morning” co-host Don Lemon has fled to Miami Beach following the furor over his sexist comments about Nikki Haley.
Lemon was spotted on the beach on Friday with his fiance Tim Malone just hours after he gave a rambling apology to his co-workers over his Thursday on-air diatribe about Haley, 51, being “not in her prime”
Lemon, 56, had been conspicuously absent from the network’s flagship morning show on Friday, only to emerge on the beach on Miami’s South Beach that same afternoon. His co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins said he had taken the day off.
A shirtless Lemon was seen frolicking in the sea with Malone outside the luxurious five star Faena Hotel, where suites can cost over $5,000 a night.
And even though the Miami weather was overcast, Lemon was also spotted relaxing on a sun lounger avidly checking his phone over the fallout from the scandal.
A source exclusively told us of Lemon, “It was always planned that Don would be off on Friday. The trip to Miami had been planned in advance.
“It is hard to know who to trust at CNN, but to fire him for cause over this incident would make everyone look terrible.
“The problem is that we are in an era of predatory response to anything people say on television. Don didn’t mean any offense, but the truth is there are different rules for what you can say on CNN compared to other networks — that is just the world we live in.”
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The source added, “Don is really bummed about how this has worked out. He made a genuine apology. He has more female friends than male friends, and is a truly sweet person.”
Yet his comment about Haley, which came after her presidential campaign kickoff, has enraged CNN staffers.
Lemon delivered a mea culpa during a 9 a.m. Friday call with editorial staffers that was led by CNN CEO Chris Licht.
“The people I am closest to in this organization are women,” Lemon insisted, according to a transcript of his apology obtained by The Post. “The people I seek counsel to first in this organization are women. The person I am closest to is my mother, a woman.”
Licht then confirmed he had been inundated with complaints from CNN staffers and that he also was personally “disappointed.” The drama comes after The Post reported tensions among Lemon, Collins and Harlow have been “smoldering for months.”
On Thursday, Lemon also tweeted, “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,” Lemon added.
For former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations Haley fired back, “I have always made liberals’ heads explode,” while former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly vowed to investigate Lemon for what she alleged was harassment of female staffers.