Chris Licht, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, called Don Lemon’s comments on women “unacceptable,” while Lemon apologized to staffers in an editorial call on Friday.“I’m sorry that I said it. And I certainly see why people found it completely misguided,” Lemon said, according to an account from CNN’s Oliver Darcy.In a segment of CNN This Morning on Thursday, Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins were talking about GOP presidential contender Nikki Haley’s proposal that candidates over the age of 75 take competency tests.
Lemon said that “this talk about age makes me uncomfortable,” but then added, “Nikki Haley is not in her prime, sorry, when a woman is considered to be in her prime is her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”Harlow then stopped him.“Wait,” Harlow said. “Prime for what?”“It depends. It’s just like prime, if you look it up. If you Google, ‘when is a woman in her prime, it will say, ’20s, 30s and 40s.'”Lemon’s comment sparked a furor on social media, and Haley herself said, “It’s always the liberals who are the most sexist.”Lemon expressed regret for the comment on Thursday afternoon. He called into the editorial meeting but was not on the morning show on Friday, in what was a pre-announced absence.Licht told staffers that Lemon’s “remarks were upsetting, unacceptable and unfair to his co-hosts, and ultimately a huge distraction to the great work of this organization,” according to The New York Times, which obtained an audio recording of the editorial call.Lemon, Harlow and Collins were teamed to host CNN’s revamped morning show last year, retitled CNN This Morning from the previous New Day. The show remains far behind its cable news rivals Fox & Friends and Morning Joe in the ratings, but CNN network executives have said that it takes some length of time for a morning show audience to build. A key feature of morning shows is the chemistry and conversation between hosts, which is why Lemon’s interactions with Harlow and Collins have drawn such close scrutiny.White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the incident at Friday’s press briefing, while it’s gotten particular attention in right leaning media.The New York Post featured the incident on its cover, diverting attention from the other story rocking the Murdoch empire: The public release of a court filing in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox, including dozens of text messages and emails showing that Fox News executives and personalities believed Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud were bogus, yet the claims were still amplified on the air.PREVIOUSLY, February 17: Don Lemon expressed regret for comments he made on CNN This Morning on Thursday that triggered a backlash from GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley and others, as well as pushback from one of Lemon’s own co-hosts.In the segment, Lemon and co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins were talking about Haley’s proposal that candidates over the age of 75 take competency tests, given their age.“This talk about age makes me uncomfortable,” Lemon said. “I think it is the wrong road to go down. She says that people, politicians or something are not in their prime. Nikki Haley is not in her prime, sorry, when a woman is considered to be in her prime is her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”“Wait,” Harlow said. “Prime for what?”“It depends. It’s just like prime, if you look it up. If you Google, ‘when is a woman in her prime, it will say, ’20s, 30s and 40s.'”Harlow responded, “40s. So I got another decade.”Lemon added, “I don’t agree with that.”Haley blasted the remark, writing on Twitter, “Liberals can’t stand the idea of having competency tests for older politicians to make sure they can do the job. BTW it’s always the liberals who are the most sexist.”Of course, the competency test would not just apply to say, Joe Biden, but Haley’s GOP rival, Donald Trump. She has staked a part of her campaign on the idea that the country needs to pass leadership to the next generation. Haley went on to retweet numerous other criticisms of Lemon’s comments.In a Twitter post on Thursday afternoon, Lemon wrote, “The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.”
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