Don Lemon spotted in NYC for first time since CNN firing
Fired CNN host Don Lemon has been spotted for the first time since the shock revelation he’s been axed by the network.
The 57-year-old was snapped by The Post leaving his Manhattan apartment Monday — just an hour after he took to Twitter to rage about his firing.
Lemon stared intently at his phone as he broke cover from the Hudson Yards skyscraper with his partner Tim Malone and their three dogs.
Donning a black cap and sunglasses, the controversial ex-anchor kept sporadically checking his device as the couple took off down the street.
The first sighting came soon after Lemon posted a fiery tweet claiming that he had been blindsided by CNN’s decision to sack him after 17 years.
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“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. 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 said in his Twitter statement.
“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. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play.”
The controversies leading up to Don Lemon’s CNN firing
Don Lemon is no stranger to controversy.
The now ex-CNN anchor was in hot water multiple times in the lead-up to Monday’s shock firing — from his infamous Nikki Haley “past her prime” remark to a screaming match with a female co-host and alleged “diva” behavior.
CNN hasn’t provided a public explanation for Lemon’s ouster after 17 years with the cable news network. But Lemon took to Twitter to insist that he had been blindsided by the news after hosting “CNN This Morning” earlier in the day.
Below are just a few of Lemon’s recent controversies.
Beef with his co-host
In December last year, Lemon is said to have “screamed” at his co-anchor, Kaitlan Collins, after an on-air segment, sources told The Post at the time.
When the cameras stopped rolling after the Dec. 8 show, he allegedly approached Collins and unleashed on her in front of staffers for supposedly “interrupting” him on air.
“Don screamed at Kaitlan, who was visibly upset and ran out of the studio,” one source said.
In the aftermath, a source said: “At this point, Kaitlan wants to be on set with Don as little as possible … It’s messy.”
Soccer spat
Just weeks before his alleged screaming match, Lemon clashed with his two female co-hosts over on-air remarks he made about women’s soccer.
Lemon got into an awkward dispute with both Collins and Harlow after he suggested the US men’s soccer team should get paid more than the women’s side.
“The men’s team makes more money. If they make more money, then they should get more money,” Lemon said.
“The men’s team makes more money because people are more interested in the men.”
Diva-like behavior
A damning Variety magazine report published earlier this month alleged Lemon has a long history of sexist and “diva-like behavior.”
The report cited roughly a dozen former CNN staffers who listed several alleged instances of misogynistic behavior.
Read more of the Post’s Don Lemon coverage
But CNN later hit back, refuting his “inaccurate” version of events.
“Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate,” the network said in a Twitter statement. “He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”
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