CNN on Monday said Don Lemon’s recount of his firing on Monday morning was "inaccurate."
"Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate," CNN said after Lemon claimed he was not "given any indication" he was going to lose his job and complained that no one in CNN's management reached out to him.
"He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter," CNN said in a statement published just 45 minutes after Lemon's own.
Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) April 24, 2023
"I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned," Lemon tweeted Monday. "After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly."
Lemon's firing comes after he was widely criticized as sexist in February when he said Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley "isn't in her prime" because she's in her 50s. CNN ordered Lemon to undergo formal training after he made the remark.
The network said in a statement Monday that Lemon "will forever be a part of the CNN family."
"We thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years," CNN said.
Lemon said there are "some larger issues at play." No announcement has been made on his replacement on CNN This Morning.
The news comes the same day it was announced Tucker Carlson would depart Fox News.