Former CNN anchor Don Lemon announced Tuesday that he will host a new show on X, nine months after being ousted from the cable news outlet.
Mr. Lemon, who was let go last April amid controversies including an on-air comment about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s age, will use the social media platform to host “The Don Lemon Show” three times a week in 30-minute episodes discussing topics such as “politics, sports, culture, and entertainment.”
“I’ve heard you ... and today I am back, bigger, bolder, freer!” Mr. Lemon said on X, the site once known as Twitter and rebranded under tech billionaire Elon Musk’s ownership.
“My new media company’s first project is The Don Lemon Show. It will be available to everyone, easily, whenever and wherever you want it, streaming on the platforms where the conversations are happening,” he added. “And you'll find it first on X, the biggest space for free speech in the world.”
“I know now more than ever that we need a place for honest debate and discussion without the hall monitors. This is just the beginning so stay tuned.”
X is also home to former Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson, who also happened to be axed in April 2023, less than a week after the news corporation agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit over its reporting of the 2020 election. Mr. Carlson announced his transition to X in May and praised Mr. Musk for his efforts to promote free debate and honest discussion, in a post similar to what his former CNN rival wrote Tuesday.
Mr. Lemon’s return to the media landscape comes nine months after losing his job with CNN, where he had spent 17 years. CNN hasn’t provided a public explanation for his firing.
Last April, the veteran newscaster wrote on Twitter that he was “stunned” when he learned of his ousting. He insisted at the time that he didn’t see his termination coming, although CNN claimed that he was “offered an opportunity to meet with management” but instead chose to release a statement on social media.
Lemon joined CNN as a correspondent in 2006 and hosted the weekly news program “Don Lemon Tonight” from 2014 until last year. Lemon was most recently a co-host of “CNN This Morning,” alongside Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.
Mr. Lemon’s departure came a little over two months after he suggested on the morning show that Ms. Haley, at age 51, was past “her prime.”
“A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s,” said Mr. Lemon, then 56, citing Google search results.
“Are you talking about prime for child-bearing or are you talking about prime for being president?” Ms. Harlow asked.
“Don’t shoot the messenger,” he replied. “I’m just saying Google what the facts are.”
Facing widespread outrage, including from Ms. Haley, who accused him of being sexist, Mr. Lemon posted an apology on Twitter, saying that the comments he made on a woman’s “prime” were “inartful and irrelevant.”
“A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day,” he wrote.
Prior to the Haley comment controversy, Mr. Lemon clashed with his two female co-hosts on-air about compensation in soccer. He got into a heated debate with his female co-hosts after he suggested that the U.S. men’s team deserved to be paid more than their female counterparts, a comment labeled “sexist.”
“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.”
