Explore More
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley piled on ex-CNN anchor and host Don Lemon shortly after he was fired Monday — and used the opportunity to rake in cash for her 2024 campaign.
“A great day for women everywhere,” the former South Carolina governor said on Twitter, referring to Lemon’s abrupt dismissal from the network weeks after the former “CNN This Morning” host said that the 51-year-old Haley was no longer “in her prime.”
“This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable,” Lemon, then 56, said of the GOP contender’s advocacy of mental competency tests on politicians over the age of 75.
“I think it’s the wrong road to go down,” Lemon added. “She says people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime.”
CNN told Lemon’s agent Monday that the 17-year cable news veteran had been let go.
“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 tweeted.
Haley hopped on her own Twitter account 30 minutes later to announce she would be giving away “Past My Prime?” beer koozies to donors who contributed $7 or more to her campaign.
“Now, let’s get men out of women’s sports. #StillInMyPrime,” she said, linking to a donations webpage with another free koozie that read: “Hold My Beer.”
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 shocking 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 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
Variety reported earlier this month that Lemon had for years exhibited “diva-like” behavior at CNN, including sending threatening text messages to former co-anchor Kyra Phillips, when she drew the assignment to cover the fallout from the US invasion of Iraq. Lemon has denied the claims.
The Post also learned that Lemon screamed at his “CNN This Morning” co-host Kaitlin Collins off-camera during a broadcast in December.
Follow The Post’s coverage of CNN’s Don Lemon
Haley could probably use a drink herself, with the RealClearPolitics polling average showing her drawing just 3.9% support in GOP primary surveys more than two months after she launched her campaign.
ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlf3R7j21ma2xfo7ast8hmn5qkla56tb7OpaOsZZSku264xKamp2Wfq7KzecWiqaKml2K1osPKrGSbnZWneqy7zrOgnqtf