Don Lemon ‘stunned’ after his ousting from CNN

CNN host Don Lemon said he was fired by CNN.

“I’m dumbfounded”, Lemon said in a message posted on Twitter on Monday, saying his agent told him he was fired by CNN President Chris Licht.

The Hill confirmed Lemon’s exit with CNN.

Licht said in a memo to CNN employees that “CNN and Don have parted ways.”

“Don will always be part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years,” Licht said. “We wish him good luck and we will encourage him in his future endeavours.”

More media coverage from The Hill:

In a separate statement released Monday, the network pushed back on Lemon’s framing of the circumstances surrounding his departure.

“Don Lemon’s statement of the events of this morning is inaccurate,” the network said. “He was offered the opportunity to meet with management but instead issued a statement on Twitter.”

Lemon joined CNN in 2006.

News of Lemon’s exit from the cable news channel came just minutes after Fox News announced Tucker Carlson, the nation’s top-rated cable news host, and the company had “agreed to separate.” The back-to-back announcements marked two high-profile departures from the two major news channels.

Lemon was tapped to host a self-titled show on CNN+, the company’s streaming service which was axed after just a month of operation. He then moved to a morning show with Kaitlin Collins and Poppy Harlow called “CNN This Morning.”

He’s had an at-times tumultuous career at CNN, including earlier this year when he was temporarily taken off airway after making comments about women’s age. Speaking about former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s proposal for a proficiency test for politicians over 75, Lemon said: “Nikki Haley is not at his peak, sorry. When a woman is considered to be in her prime – in her 20s, 30s and maybe 40s.

Lemon returned to the network after receiving formal training.

This story was updated at 1:16 p.m.