Don Lemon Biography
Don Lemon (full name; Donald Carlton Lemon) is a former CNN anchor who was fired on April 24, 2023 after working in the network for 17 years having joined in September 2006. Prior to his firing, he anchored “CNN This Morning” with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins for nearly six months. He previously sted the prime-time show “Don Lemon Tonight” for more than eight years.
Don Lemon Age
Don is 57 years old, he was born in 1966 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. He celebrates his birthday on March 1.
Don Lemon Height
He stands at a height of 6 feet o inches tall.
Don Lemon Education
Don attended Baker High School, a public high school in the town of Baker in East Baton Rouge Parish and later attended Louisiana State University and graduated from Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York, majoring in broadcast journalism.
Don Lemon Parents
Lemon was born to a single working mother, Katherine Clark. His father, known only as Mr. Richardson, played a positive role in Lemon’s young life. He grew up in west Baton Rouge and Port Allen where he lived with his mother, siblings and grandmother until 1976 when his mother married his step-father. He has Creole ancestry; his great-grandfather was of French descent, in addition to Nigerian, Cameroonian, and Congolese ancestry.
Don Lemon Siblings
He was brought up alongside his two sisters Leisa Lemon and Yma Lemon. However Leisa died during a fishing excursion in Denham Springs, La. According to the outlet, the police were called after an accident was reported, and Leisa reportedly tripped and fell into the neighborhood pond, accidentally drowning. Law enforcement confirmed that her death was an accident.
Don Lemon Husband
Don is not married but has been engaged to his partner Tim Malone since 2019. Tim proposed to Don in April 2019 during Tim’s birthday. The duo met after being introduced at a Long Island restaurant in 2016 and started dating during the summer of 2016 but didn’t go public until April 2017 when they became “Instagram official” on Don’s feed. Three months later, Tim Instagramed a couple photo as well, and shortly after that, they made a public debut at the 28th annual GLAAD Media Awards.
Who is Tim Malone
Tm Malone is a real estate agent at Douglas Elliman Real Estate and formerly was a realtor at The Corcoran Group. He was born in April 1984 in Water Mill, New York. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and history from Boston College. Prior to joining real estate, he worked in media having held positions behind the scenes for The Today Show and NBCUniversal. He also worked for the sales departments of the SyFy network and the USA network. In addition, he worked as a director at Billboard and later became the executive director of brand partnerships, a position he held for three years.
Don Lemon And Stephanie Ortiz
For many years, Don had kept his sexuality a secret, and was rumored to be secretly married to actress Stephanie Ortiz. He ended up coming out in his first published autobiographical book, Transparent, which ultimately inspired him to advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. He later guest-starred on an episode of Jada Pinkett Smith’s web series, Red Table Talk, to discuss what it’s like being an openly gay Black man in the U.S.
On the show, Don explained his struggles tackling the intersectionality of race and sex: “Historically, Black men have stayed in the closet. You have to decide on your identity. ‘Do I want to be Black or do I want to be gay?’ And sometimes some of us say we’re too Black to be gay. Or we’re too gay to be Black,” he explained.
Don Lemon First Wife
Don is openly gay and has never been married to a woman. He was however rumored to be secretly married to actress Stephanie Ortiz which was not true, at the time he had not publicly come out.
Don Lemon CNN
Lemon joined CNN in September 2006 and was anchoring “CNN This Morning” with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins prior to his firing. He had previously anchored ‘CNN Tonight with Don Lemon’ which aired on weeknights at 10pm for nearly eight years. In addition, he served as a correspondent across CNN/U.S. programming.
He reported from Chicago in the days leading up to the 2008 presidential election, including an interview with then-Rep. Rahm Emanuel on the day he accepted the position of Chief of Staff for President-elect Barack Obama. He also interviewed Anne Cooper, the 106-year old voter President-elect Obama highlighted in his election night acceptance speech after he had seen Lemon’s interview with Cooper on CNN.
He also reported during the Hurricane Florence (2018), Las Vegas shooting (2017), the Orlando shooting at Pulse Nightclub (2016), Charleston church shooting (2015), death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO (2014), the George Zimmerman trial (2013), the Boston marathon bombing (2013), the Philadelphia building collapse (2013),the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (2012), the Colorado Theater Shooting (2012), the death of Whitney Houston, the Inaugural of the 44th President in Washington, D.C., the death of Michael Jackson (2009), Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana (2008) and the Minneapolis bridge collapse (2007).
Don has also anchored the network’s breaking news coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Arab Spring, the death of Osama Bin Laden and Joplin tornado and also reported for CNN’s documentary Race and Rage: The Beating of Rodney King, which aired 20 years to the day of the beating. He is also known for holding politicians and public officials accountable in his “No Talking Points” segment.
Prior to joining CNN ,he served as a co-anchor for the 5 p.m. newscast for NBC5 News in Chicago and was also an anchor and reporter after working in New York as a correspondent for NBC News, The Today Show and NBC Nightly News. Don also worked as an anchor on Weekend Today and on MSNBC. While at NBC and covered the explosion of Space Shuttle Columbia, SARS in Canada and numerous other stories of national and global importance. Lemon has also served as a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter for WCAU-TV, an NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, an anchor and investigative reporter for KTVI-TV in St. Louis and an anchor for WBRC-TV in Birmingham.
Don Lemon Fired
Don was fired from CNN on April 24, 2023 after working for the network for 17 years. He announced his firing through his twitter account claiming that he was informed about the same by his agent.
“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 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 some larger issues at play. With that said, I want to thank my colleagues and many teams I have worked with for an incredible run. They are the most talented journalists in the business, and I wish them all the best.”
Cnn rebutted his statement, claiming that he was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.
Why Was Don Lemon Fired?
CNN has not revealed why they fired Don but in February he made a sexist comment about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s proposal that older politicians take competency tests, Lemon argued that the 51-year-old Haley “isn’t in her prime.” He claimed that a woman is only “considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.” He was widely criticized for the comments.
CNN CEO Chris Licht in a memo to staff called the comments “unacceptable” and said he had a frank conversation with Lemon, who apologized and was set to participate in formal training sessions. During an editorial meeting Don apologized saying, “When I make a mistake, I own it and I own this one as well.”
Earlier in the month, Variety published a report detailing allegations of misogyny aimed at female coworkers. Lemon however, denied the allegations.
Don Lemon Salary
He earns an annual salary of $4 million.
Don Lemon Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $12 million.