Leftist host Don Lemon was absent today from “CNN This Morning” after reports emerged Thursday that revealed he suffered an onset meltdown and “screamed” at his co-host.
As Slay News reported, Lemon apparently snapped and screamed at Kaitlan Collins, accusing his co-host of “interrupting” him.
The incident reportedly left the crew “rattled” and Lemon was ordered to leave the set and told to go and “cool off.”
The network claims his absence was unrelated to the explosive story, however.
“Don is on assignment in Los Angeles,” Collins said to open the show.
According to Fox News: “During CNN’s breaking news of Brittney Griner’s release from Russia on Dec. 8, there were multiple on-air instances where Collins attempted to interject while Lemon was speaking.
“At one point, Lemon wagged his finger above the desk and told her ‘stand by one second.'”
While off-air, however, 56-year-old Lemon got “nasty” with 30-year-old Collins, scolding her for “interrupting” him, which left the female co-host “visibly upset,” a source who witnessed the exchange told Fox News Digital.
Word of the incident reached CNN boss Chris Licht, who urged Lemon to “take a beat,” the source said.
CNN says Lemon is in Los Angeles doing “Grammy stuff” but the timing is making people wonder how long Lemon has left at CNN.
Media experts claimed demoting Lemon from primetime was an attempt to set him up to fail in the mornings so they could fire him with no pushback.
As I’ve said before. Most in CNN mgmt. knew this combination would fail and Don’s ego couldn’t handle going from his own show to sharing. They will fire him based on his behavior and ratings. Stay tuned.
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) February 2, 2023
The New York Post is reporting that the damage from Lemon’s meltdown has not been repaired.
“At this point, Kaitlan wants to be on set with Don as little as possible,” a source told the Post. “It’s messy.”
“Don screamed at Kaitlan, who was visibly upset and ran out of the studio,” a source told the Post about the meltdown.
Lemon who is rumored to be on thin ice at CNN after being demoted from his primetime show was reportedly told by CNN CEO Chris Licht “to take the next day off to cool off.”
Last month, Eric Hall, executive producer of “CNN This Morning,” was removed from his post amid the ratings slump and moved to a new role at the 11 p.m. hour of “CNN Tonight.”
The ratings have been a disaster for the new show, falling every month.
When Don Lemon has friends at a site, you get this line: “Multiple sources at CNN familiar with the dynamic at the show told Mediaite that Lemon remains one of the most liked and professional staffers at the network, while Collins is still working to adjust to her new position.”
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) February 3, 2023
Don Lemon ‘screamed’ at ‘CNN This Morning’ co-host, left crew ‘rattled’: sources https://t.co/WKdXwreoJO pic.twitter.com/GKuU3Xu357
— New York Post (@nypost) February 2, 2023
This happened a few weeks ago. It’s all falling apart. 👉’@CNN This Morning’ producer Eric Hall already out in abrupt shakeup https://t.co/8rInhxpuMQ via @nypost
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) February 2, 2023
According to The Wrap:
Some especially troublesome news out of this week’s Nielsen numbers is that Licht’s primary programming move, “CNN This Morning,” also suffered the lowest week since its launch just three months ago.
It averaged just 331,000 viewers while “Fox & Friends” had nearly 1 million and “Morning Joe” drew 760,000.
Licht hand-picked CNN’s Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins to host the rebooted morning show.
But so far that trio is failing to grow its audience.
An individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap exclusively last week that EP Eric Hall was being reassigned to “CNN Tonight,” hosted by Laura Coates, signaling that Licht is aware that the show needs to perform better.
Insiders also told TheWrap that even hosts Lemon, Harlow, and Collins “seem to be growing frustrated” over the direction.
“The show can’t decide strategically what exactly it is, so it’s trying to be everything which can create whiplash for a viewer when segments seem off-brand in tonality,” one insider said.
“The audience for morning news on network TV is different than the cable news audience and since we’re not gaining new viewers we definitely need to retain our legacy ones”
