Don Lemon said he has “cut the cord” with corporate media and has been watching conservative commentator Ben Shapiro’s podcast since his firing from CNN.
Lemon told Puck News for its end-of-year list that he has been looking outside the “corporate media” since leaving CNN in April, and has been tuning into podcasts and shows from across the political spectrum.
“Since leaving corporate media I cut the cord,” Lemon told Puck News. “I have an extensive, eclectic streaming palate now: “Fellow Travelers” on Showtime; “PBD Podcast” (it’s very conservative); “The Ben Shapiro Show” (I want to hear his take on Israel); “Pivot” (of course); “Piers Morgan Uncensored” (very real, authentic conversations you don’t get in corporate media); “Pod Save America” (obvi); “The Daily” (every single day); “Smartless” (the best); “The Adam Friedland Show” (smart, irreverent, funny; download the Chet Hanks episode for evidence).”
.@donlemon told Puck News he has “cut the cord” with corporate media and has been listening to conservatives such as Ben Shapiro pic.twitter.com/enwmN8h1Zs
— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) December 12, 2023
Despite his image as a liberal, Lemon has a history of serving up right-leaning takes. In a “CNN This Morning” segment from Dec. 1, 2022, Lemon clashed with his two female co-hosts after arguing that men’s sports teams should earn more money than the women’s because people are more interested in men’s sports.
“The men’s team makes more money. If they make more money, then they should get more money,” Lemon said at the time. “The men’s team makes more money because people have more interest.” (RELATED: ‘Still In My Prime’: Nikki Haley Mocks Don Lemon’s Termination)
CNN footage from 2013 shows Lemon advising black people to “pull up your pants,” step away from “hip-hop and rap culture” and eschew “thug and reprehensible behavior.”
“So please, black folks, as I said, if this doesn’t apply to you, I’m not talking to you,” Lemon said in the clip. “Pay attention to and think about what has been presented in recent history as acceptable behavior. Pay close attention to the hip-hop and rap culture that many of you embrace, a culture that glorifies everything I just mentioned. Thug and reprehensible behavior. A culture that is making a lot of people rich, just not you, and it’s not going to.”
“Pull up your pants. Walking around with your ass and your underwear showing is not okay,” Lemon continued. “In fact, it comes from prison when they take away belt from the prisoner so that they can’t make a weapon. And then it evolved into which role a prisoner would have during male-on-male prison sex. The one with the really low pants is a submissive one. You get my point.”
Lemon faced intense backlash in February for saying that 51-year-old Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was no longer “in her prime.” He later apologized for his comments in a Feb. 16 tweet, calling his remarks “inartful and irrelevant.” CNN fired him in late April.