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Megyn Kelly slammed CNN CEO Chris Licht for refusing to fire Don Lemon after his sexist comments about women over 40 not being in their “prime.”
Kelly discussed the controversial liberal host on her SiriusXM show alongside author Steve Krakauer while posing the question to Licht: “Do women matter?”
Lemon, 56, came under fire following his misogynistic comments on February 16 when he discussed the age of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley with his co-hosts. Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.
His comments sparked bipartisan outrage with several public figures, including Kelly, calling out Lemon, especially after his past misconduct towards his co-host was revealed. She also previously asked a guest if she had “mom brain.”
‘Do women matter? Does CNN care about our offense or does someone have to grab a tit for us to count Chris Licht? That’s my question to you,’ Kelly said.
Megyn Kelly slammed CNN CEO Chris Licht for refusing to fire Don Lemon after his sexist comments about women over 40 not being in their ‘prime’
Lemon, 56, came under fire after his misogynistic comments on February 16 when discussing the age of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
Lemon’s sexist comments occurred when discussing Haley’s suggestion that politicians over the age of 75 should face mental competency tests.
The embattled host was away for a few days after the comments and was reportedly forced to apologize to staff in an editorial call from his vacation in Florida.
‘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.
Licht criticized Lemon’s comment as “upsetting, unacceptable and unfair to his co-host”.
Kelly viewed Licht’s response as a mere slap on the wrist and questioned when Lemon would be added to the list of CNN employees fired for offending “half the country.”
“It shouldn’t be because a man raped you, or 21 women come forward claiming a man sexually harassed them, or a man touched them inappropriately for their offense.” Kelly said.
“We have seen person after person fired because they caused offense, mere offense, when it comes to race, when it comes to sexual orientation, when it comes to gender identity.
‘Does the offense of women matter?…Because this guy [Don Lemon] He managed to piss off half the country. It is not left or right.
Kelly called the war against Lemon a bipartisan issue as several figures, including Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, spoke out against his latest offense.
“It’s male or female,” Kelly said. And by the way, many men are with us. You don’t have to be a #MeToo supporter to be irritated and offended by what Don Lemon said. This one is not falling apart along party lines.
She continued: ‘This is not a left and a right. It’s about decency.
CNN CEO Chris Licht 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.”
Lemon appears on CNN’s morning show along with Poppy Harlow (center) and Kaitlan Collins. Harlow shot back at Lemon’s comments about women while Collins was left speechless.
Since then, CNN’s female staff have threatened to quit if Lemon remains on the air, a source told DailyMail.com.
“People are hurt by their actions and they are not going to let this go,” the unnamed source said. “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.
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.
“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.
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.
When asked for comment about the female staff threatening to leave unless Lemon does, a CNN spokesperson declined to specifically address that issue.
Lemon’s actions towards women are coming to light, especially after he allegedly yelled at Kaitlan Collins off the air for interrupting him on Dec. 8, sources say.