He’s been at CNN since 2006. If he hasn’t developed the instinct to know when he’s verbally stumbling into an inappropriate area by now . . .
Just what kind of “formal training” is going to teach CNN anchor Don Lemon not to declare, on air, that women past their 40s are no longer in their prime, and to urge viewers to “Google it” when his female co-anchors express skepticism?
Will they set up a simulated news desk, use stand-ins for his usual female co-anchors, and have Lemon practice some off-the-cuff remarks, then send some sort of electrical shock through his chair each time he says something inappropriate or steps over the line?
Will the “formal training” be limited to sexism, or will it include comments like Lemon’s qualified defense of calling South Carolina senator Tim Scott an “Oreo”? Or his contention that those who voted for Donald Trump are comparable to the Klan or Nazis?
Will the training cover on-air speculation about black holes devouring missing passenger airliners?
I understand the network has told the anchors to stop getting drunk on-air during New Year’s Eve.
Don Lemon has carved out a clear role at CNN, first on his own prime-time show, then as a co-host of the morning program. (Insert a “Lemon is past his prime” joke here.) Every few weeks or so, Don Lemon says something provocative, controversial, often hard to defend and often stupid. He makes a snotty comment to a new mom, interrupts his co-anchor, he swears on-air, he gets wrapped up in the Jussie Smollett investigation. Don Lemon generates his own little mini-controversies, and that’s worked for him his entire career. Who can blame Lemon for being surprised that this time, everyone around him is acting as though he’s done something unacceptable? This is who the guy is. How much is “formal training” going to change that?
This is not some young kid who is still learning the ropes. Lemon turns 57 next month. He’s been at CNN since 2006. He’s cumulatively spent years in front of the camera, on live television. If he hasn’t developed the instinct to know when he’s verbally stumbling into an inappropriate area by now . . . will he ever?
I notice Don Lemon has yet to apologize to Nikki Haley.