Former CNN anchor Don Lemon alleged he was sexually harassed in the workplace on several occasions while at the network. Lemon appeared on Bill Maher’s podcast Club Random when he opened up about those incidents, as well as his perspective on gender, power and the intersection between the two, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
While on Club Random for an almost two-hour episode, Maher and Lemon discussed the evolving nature of media and the biases embedded in it, MAGA Republicans and Lemon’s experiences in media as an openly gay Black man.
Lemon details incidents of harassment at CNN
Regarding the latter, which they touched on early in the episode, Lemon opened up about experiencing sexual harassment at CNN.
“I’ve been harassed by women and men in the work,” he said on the show. “There are some things that are really egregious, but not everything is Harvey Weinstein-level.”
He went on to recount allegedly being touched inappropriately by a woman at the CNN cafeteria in Atlanta during one incident. A “young lady” pulled Lemon’s nipples and said, “Oh, it’s cold in here!”
Lemon responded, “OK — you realize if I did that, they’d be walking me out the door right now?”
He said he “didn’t care to go to HR” and “didn’t say anything, because I’m just like, ‘it’s a double standard for you.'”
Lemon, who left CNN in 2023, also remembered an alleged incident with a female superior who he said also harassed him, though the event happened out of the office.
“I’ve never told this story as well. Someone who I worked with also harassed me at CNN, and I never went to management,” he shared. “She knew I was gay, and it was just bizarre. She was going through a divorce. It was just weird.”
The 59-year-old said he rationalized the harassment due to the women’s senior position at CNN, as he was afraid if he did say something, his job would be in jeopardy. Lemon wasn’t sure people would believe him.
Maher pushed Lemon for more details about the incident with the female superior. He then added that the alleged incident also occurred in Atlanta, and the woman was someone he had spent time with at business events, including cocktail parties.
“Remember, this was a while ago, and there was no Uber or anything like that,” he told Maher. “If you are in Atlanta, the taxis aren’t available.”
He told Maher that when he tried to leave the vicinity where the incident occurred, he was told, ‘No, don’t go home. Stay in the guest room.”
Though Lemon didn’t say more about the instance, he said that the woman was “so mean to me afterward.”
Lemon emphasizes his male privilege
Lemon made a point to highlight that, as a man, he’s in a position to say no, which isn’t always the case when women face sexual harassment.
“I’m an adult, and maybe I think it is different for men and women, depending on the power structure. I think it’s flattering as long as you can send them off easily. As a man, I could say, ‘No, I’m not interested.'”
Lemon says he was molested as a child
After sharing his darker experiences at CNN, Lemon revealed to Maher that he was molested as a child.
“But also someone who was molested as a child is a different thing,” he said, prompting Maher to interject to confirm what he said. “Because you know how to deal with it, and you know what’s really important or not. And you know, like, who has the power. I figure as a man, I have the power to say, ‘I don’t want to.’ I don’t need to go to HR or ruin your career. I just tell you, ‘I’m not interested in this. You were drunk. We had a couple of drinks or whatever. Let’s let it go.'”
His post-CNN career
According to USA Today, Lemon was fired from CNN in 2023 following his viral comments on former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who he described as not “in her prime.” Other allegations of Lemon’s inappropriate behavior toward female colleagues were revealed in a lengthy Variety report.
Shortly after leaving CNN, Lemon launched a partnership with Elon Musk via his social media platform X, formerly Twitter. The partnership didn’t last as Musk canceled it with Lemon suing him for axing the new venture.
He now hosts a podcast, The Don Lemon Show.
