Larger issues at play? Now, CNN fires Don Lemon

Two high-profile news networks kicked off their week with announcements that they are parting ways with two of their most popular faces. A few minutes after news broke that Tucker Carlson is leaving Fox News, CNN announced that Don Lemon, a morning show host at the network, is leaving the channel.

“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 statement sent to the workers. “We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavours.”

While CNN's post on its site seemed to indicate that it was ending things on a good note, Lemon was visibly angry with the decision. He had been with the network for 17 years and lashed out at the network in a Twitter post, saying that the management didn't have the "decency" to tell him directly about the firing.

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“I am stunned,” Lemon said in a tweet Monday, saying his agent had informed him of his firing by CNN president Chris Licht.

Licht sent a memo to the workers and said that “CNN and Don have parted ways.”

Lemon said in his post that "larger issues" are at play in the sudden decision, of which he was never given any indication.

Lemon's exit comes a little over two months after he apologised to viewers for on-air comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

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

Earlier, Fox announced that Tucker Carlson was the network. His departure came a week after the channel settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million. The Toronto-headquartered voting equipment company accused Fox News of promoting Donald Trump's false claims about the voting machines being rigged in the 2020 elections.

Carlson is seen as a top promoter of conspiracy theories at the network. He repeatedly said things that cast doubt over the legitimacy of the 2020 election. Carlson's private text messages with fellow hosts mocking Trump's claims about the election fraud have garnered attention.

One of the filings in the Dominion lawsuit revealed that some of the hosts mocked Trump's false election claims even while giving the matter a platform on air. A text from November 16, 2020, mentioned how Carlson said “Sidney Powell is lying” about having evidence for election fraud.

Dominion caught hold of Carlson’s group chat with other Fox primetime stars Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, and several more messages.

Not just the election, Carlson also promoted conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccines.

(With inputs from agencies)

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