Ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon is opening up about the sexual harassment he was subjected to during his tenure at the news network.
Lemon, who was fired in 2023 after a tumultuous relationship with the network, made the claims Sunday (March 16) during an episode of the Club Random With Bill Maher podcast.
“I have been harassed by woman and men in the [workplace],” Lemon told Maher early on in their conversation. “It’s ridiculous.”
“There are some things that are really egregious, but not everything is Harvey Weinstein level,” he added, referring to the movie mogul who was sentenced to over 30 years in prison after being convicted for numerous sexual assaults in both New York and Los Angeles.
Lemon, who is openly gay, recalled a time when one female co-worker allegedly touched him inappropriately while he was getting something to eat in the CNN cafeteria in Atlanta.
“This young lady tweaked my nipples and said, Oh, it’s cold in here.’ I said, ‘OK, you realize if I did that, they’d be walking me out the door right now?’” he said.
The former television journalist said he “didn’t care to go to HR” after the incident and “didn’t say anything because it’s a double standard.
On another occasion, Lemon alleged that a female colleague behaved inappropriately towards him when he spent the night at her place after a work event.
He said the women offered to let him sleep in a spare room during a time when Uber and Lyft did not exist.
“I’ve never told this story. Someone who I worked with also harassed me at CNN, and I never went to management,” Lemon claimed.
“First of all, I was so new there. She knew I was gay. It was just bizarre. She was going through a divorce…it was weird.”
The former Don Lemon Tonight host said he “never went to management” because he feared CNN would “get rid” of him.
“I thought, ‘OK, they may find a way to get rid of me because if I told this story, I don’t know if they’re gonna believe me or not,’” he continued.
“But then she was so mean to me after that, I was like, ‘I should have told the story.’”
Lemon did not provide any details about alleged sexual harassment by male colleagues. However, he told Maher that he had been molested during his childhood, which prepared him to deal with unwanted attention as an adult.
“I think it’s flattering as long as you can send them off easily. As a man, I could say, ‘No, I’m not interested’,” he said. “Because you know how to deal with it, and you know what’s really important or not. And you know, like, who has the power.”
“I figure as a man, I have the power to say, ‘I don’t want to.’ I don’t need to go to HR or ruin your career. I just tell you, ‘I’m not interested in this. You were drunk. We had a couple of drinks or whatever. Let’s let it go’,” he added.
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Lemon’s tenure at CNN was marred by allegations of misogynistic behavior, including several high-profile incidents that sparked widespread criticism and public outrage.
In December 2022, Lemon stirred controversy during an on-air segment when he claimed that men’s soccer is “more interesting to watch,” leading to a heated disagreement with his co-hosts, Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow.
The backlash intensified in February 2023, when Lemon made controversial remarks about presidential candidate Nikki Haley, then 51, stating that she was “not in her prime.”
He suggested that a woman’s prime years are in her 20s, 30s, and 40s, a comment widely condemned as sexist.
Two months later, a report by Variety revealed further allegations of misogynistic behavior by Lemon toward female colleagues, including prominent figures such as Soledad O’Brien, Kyra Phillips, and Nancy Grace.
Lemon’s representative denied the allegations, labeling them “unsourced” and “unsubstantiated.”
Shortly after the Variety report was published, CNN fired Lemon. He has since launched his own podcast, The Don Lemon Show.
