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Angry CNN staffers have threatened to resign if Don Lemon stays on the air following his sexist comments last week that Nikki Haley and women in their 40s are ‘past their prime’.
With speculation rife that the embattled host, 56, could go off the grid in trouble imminently, a source close to the ‘biggest name in the news’ told DailyMail.com, ‘if Don doesn’t go , others have threatened to resign’.
“People are hurt by their actions and they are not going to let this go. It’s like every woman over 50 in America took it as a personal insult. CNN employees definitely have. You have to make your vacation permanent.
In fact, another CNN insider said that ‘the women at CNN are angry. You have made it impossible to do your job. It’s an embarrassment to the network and it has to go.
When asked for comment about the female staff threatening to leave unless Lemon does, a CNN spokesperson declined to specifically address that issue.
Don Lemon was spotted out and about in Miami over the weekend as furor over his comments on the best female moment rocked CNN
Asked if it was true that Don Lemon is being pushed out the door in the wake of this latest scandal, another CNN spokesperson told DailyMail.com that “it is patently false to say that Don is being pressured to resign.” .
However, CNN pundits are adamant: “CNN has been literally inundated like a tidal wave with extremely angry and offended loyal viewers.”
‘There’s not a single person at CNN who thinks it should stay on the air. She knows how badly she screwed up and she also knows that she can’t talk her way out of it. Her apology meant nothing.
The anchor made his remarks on Thursday morning’s CNN segment as he and co-hosts Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow discussed Nikki Haley’s proposal that politicians 75 and older should face mental competency tests.
Lemon, who at 56 is five years older than Haley, 51, said the politician should handle the issue carefully because “a woman is at her best in her 20s and 30s and maybe her 40s.”
Lemon apologized multiple times for his comments, including sending a tweet shortly after the show and saying he was sorry to the staff during an editorial call.
‘Sorry, I don’t mean to hurt anyone. I didn’t mean to offend anyone,’ she said during the call. ‘What I said came out wrong and I wish I hadn’t said it. I believe that women of any age can do anything they set their minds to. The people closest to me in this organization are women.
Lemon has been soaking up the sun on the beach in Miami as the storm batters his behavior, and hasn’t been seen on CNN’s morning show since last Thursday, even though he was due back on the air Monday morning.
CNN President Chris Licht he also criticized Lemon’s comments as “disturbing, unacceptable and unfair to his co-hosts and ultimately a major distraction from the great work of this organization.”
Nikki Haley is 51 years old. Don Lemon suggested that she was past her prime as a woman.
Employees were also reportedly unimpressed with Lemon’s apology on the editorial call, with some saying he was “deaf” and sounded like he’s giving himself a pat on the back for admitting his mistake.
“Don has been skating on thin ice for so long and many wanted him fired in December when he freaked out on Kaitlin Collins for no reason,” a source told DailyMail.com. “He was crying and it was very inappropriate.”
“Regardless of her political affiliation, her comments that Nikki Haley was past her prime was sickening. Poppy was furious, as she should be, and she still is.
“He is rude, self-righteous and clearly sexist. Nikki did the right thing by calling him.
“His apology meant nothing and there is a lot of pressure to get it canned. It would be a shock if it wasn’t.
Haley herself responded to Lemon’s comments, saying, “It’s always the liberals who are the most sexist” in a tweet with a clip from the video segment.
Harlow reportedly stormed off set after Lemon’s comments last week and just a few weeks ago he allegedly went into a yelling fit after a broadcast because he was angry that Collins had interrupted him on air.