CNN’s Don Lemon is reportedly weighing a possible lawsuit over a bombshell expose in Variety that alleged he has a history of threatening and demeaning female colleagues such as Soledad O’Brien, Kyra Phillips and Nancy Grace.The embattled “CNN This Morning” co-host, who recently got into hot water over making sexist on-air comments, is “apoplectic” about Variety’s report and has “consulted attorneys about a possible lawsuit” against the entertainment publication, Insider reported Wednesday.Neither Lemon nor Variety returned requests for comment.CNN declined to comment.A source close to Lemon said that he’s outwardly “playing it cool,” and that CNN’s defense of the anchor in the press shows that they are “standing behind him.”“They’ve known for years,” added a second media source, referring to CNN. “Lemon is not going to sue because then they’d have to depose people and more stuff could come out.”Variety reported Wednesday that Lemon — who sparked outrage in February when he declared that 51-year-old GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley was not “in her prime” — engaged in disrespectful, “diva-like” behavior often directed at his female co-workers.The report alleged that the 57-year-old Lemon allegedly called a female producer fat to her face, accused O’Brien of not being black, and sent Phillips a menacing text message because he was jealous in 2008.In 2008, while working as co-anchor of CNN’s “Live From,” Lemon was passed over for Phillips to cover the aftermath of the Iraq invasion.Enraged, he allegedly vented his jealousy by ripping up pictures and leaving them on Phillips’ desk, two sources who worked at CNN at the time told the outlet.She later received a threatening text message from Lemon while out with co-workers.“Now you’ve crossed the line, and you’re going to pay for it,” read the message sent to Phillips’ phone from an anonymous number that was later reportedly traced to Lemon.CNN conducted an investigation into the text, removed Lemon from his co-anchoring duties alongside Phillips, and demoted him to weekends, according to Variety.On Wednesday, CNN defended Lemon, telling The Post that the Variety story, penned by reporter Tatiana Siegel, provided “no actual proof” and “instead relies on anonymous sources” and “unsubstantiated claims from 10 to 15 years ago.”The network, which has recently made Lemon undergo “formal training” after his Haley remarks, also said it is “unable to corroborate the alleged accounts.”Lemon shared a statement through a spokesperson, adding: “The story, which is riddled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete evidence, is entirely based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old anonymous gossip. It’s amazing and disappointing that Variety would be so reckless.”Inside CNN, staffers are tired of the drumbeat of bad press over Lemon, who made headlines for chewing out “CNN This Morning” co-host Kaitlan Collins after a broadcast in December.“It makes us the story,” one annoyed employee said, noting that everyone just wants to “get back to work.”The morning show, which was reimagined under Lemon, Collins, and co-host Poppy Harlow, has flailed in the ratings since it was launched in November by CNN boss Chris Licht.According to Nielsen ratings, “CNN This Morning” averaged 359,000 viewers in the first quarter, but that show’s audience jumps to 438,000 total viewers when factoring in the simulcast on CNN sister station HLN.By comparison, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” averaged 846,000 total viewers while Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” broadcast emerged on top with an average of 1.21 million viewers.
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