Of all the major news-anchor dramas in recent years, the Don Lemon stuff was so uninteresting to me. Lemon was a longtime CNN anchor and their morning show co-host. He should have been fired years ago for his on-and-off-camera behavior, including so many ageist and sexist comments on-air and a culture of harassment, sexism and just “bad behavior” off-camera, mostly with his staff. I have no idea why CNN didn’t pull the plug on Lemon before now, but here we are. Just a few months ago, Lemon stepped in sh-t yet again when he said, on air, that Nikki Haley isn’t a viable candidate because, as a 51 year old woman, she’s not “in her prime.” It would be weird if that was the breaking point, but it looks like it was. Lemon got sh-tcanned from CNN on Monday, seemingly within minutes of Fox News firing Tucker Carlson.

CNN has parted ways with longtime host Don Lemon. The announcement Monday came without explanation and astonished the media industry.

“Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years,” said CNN CEO Chris Licht in a memo to staff. “We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”

Lemon anchored “CNN This Morning” with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. The show has been on the air for nearly six months.

“We are committed to its success,” Licht said of the morning show.

In a statement of his own, Lemon said his agent told him Monday morning that CNN had terminated him.

“I am stunned,” Lemon said, arguing that management did not have “the decency” to inform him of his firing directly. “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,” Lemon added

CNN rebutted Lemon, calling his version of events “inaccurate.”

“He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter,” the network said in a statement.

[From CNN]

Ah, the post-firing back-and-forth about who informed whom and when and how. Lemon’s tenure at CNN was messy as f–k, so of course his firing is too. And of course he has the audacity to be “stunned” about it too. Weirdly, Lemon posted a message on Twitter and people can’t understand where it comes from. Word? Notes? Someone suggested that he took a screenshot of an email? Why is the font so big? Why is it blue-lavender?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.