Lemon was spotted on the beach on Friday with his fiance Tim Malone just hours after he gave a rambling apology to his co-workers over his Thursday on-air diatribe about Haley, 51, being “not in her prime”
Lemon, 56, had been conspicuously absent from the network’s flagship morning show on Friday, only to emerge on the beach on Miami’s South Beach that same afternoon.
His co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins said he had taken the day off.
Don Lemon hit the beach in Miami after fleeing New York after making comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
“It was always planned for Don to have Friday off. The trip to Miami had been planned in advance.It’s hard to know who to trust at CNN, but firing him for good cause over this incident would make everyone look awful.”
A source exclusively told about Lemon
“The problem is we’re in an era of predatory reaction to everything people say on TV. No offense meant, but the truth is, compared to other networks, there are different rules about what you can say on CNN — it’s just the world we live in.”
The source added, “Don’s really disappointed with how this turned out. He sincerely apologized. He has more female friends than male ones and is a really sweet person.”
But his comment about Haley, coming after her presidential campaign kicked off, has infuriated CNN staffers.
Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley launched her presidential bid Wednesday, February 15 in Charleston, SC Anadolu Agency
Licht then confirmed that he had been inundated with complaints from CNN staffers and that he was also “disappointed” personally. The drama comes after The Post reported that tensions between Lemon, Collins and Harlow “have been smoldering for months”.
On Thursday, Lemon also tweeted, “The reference I made this morning to a woman’s ‘best time’ was clumsy and irrelevant, as colleagues and family have pointed out, and I regret it.”
