CNN has fired its News anchor Don Lemon following remarks where he said that Republican Nikki Haley was no longer in her prime.
“I am stunned,” Lemon wrote on Twitter, as he shared his surprise after being informed by his agent he had been let sacked from CNN.
“After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly.”
“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 larger issues at play,” he added.
Don Lemon’s dismissal from CNN is coming as Fox News sacked one primetime host Tucker Carlson.
Don Lemon’s troubles might have started earlier this year after he made comments about Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, a former UN ambassador and governor of South Carolina.
Ms. Haley was not “in her prime”, Lemon said during the show. “When a woman is considered to be in her prime – in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s.”
“I’m just saying what the facts are – Google it,” he added, responding to objections from his female co-hosts, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.
However, Lemon issued an apology on the same day saying he regretted his “inartful and irrelevant” comments. He also apologized to the newsroom and agreed to partake in “mandatory training” to address the incident.
But the remarks nonetheless ignited widespread criticism, with many decrying his utterance as being sexist.
Responding to Don Lemon’s dismissal from CNN, Nikki Haley said, “great day for women everywhere” with the hashtag “#StillInMyPrime”.
Lemon has also been accused of unruly behavior toward his colleagues on CNN. In a report from Variety, he was said to have called one of his producers fat to her face. sending threatening texts to another and mocking another on air by mimicking her.
Lemon also fell on the wrong side of the media when he said that the US men’s soccer team should be paid more than the women’s because the men were “more interesting to watch”.
Don Lemon who is aged 57-year-old had appeared on CNN on Monday during the morning program as usual before reports of his sack were released later that day.