Don Lemon claimed both women and men sexually harassed him during his time working at CNN.
“It’s ridiculous,” the journalist told Bill Maher on the comedian’s “Club Random” podcast Sunday.
“There are some things that are really egregious, but not everything is Harvey Weinstein-level,” he added, referring to the disgraced film producer who was found guilty of rape and sexual assault in courts in both New York and Los Angeles.
Lemon, 59, recalled a time when a woman allegedly touched him inappropriately while he was getting something to eat in the CNN cafeteria in Atlanta.
“This young lady tweaked my nipples and said, ‘Oh, it’s cold in here.’ I said, ‘OK, you realize that if I did that, they’d be walking me out the door right now?’” he said.
The former “Don Lemon Tonight” host said he “didn’t care to go to HR” after the incident and “didn’t say anything because it’s a double standard.”
Lemon, who is openly gay, remembered a second incident that allegedly took place when he spent the night at a female co-worker’s home after a work event. He said the woman offered for him to sleep in a spare room at her house during a time when ride-share services such as Uber and Lyft did not exist.
“I never told this story. Someone who I worked with also harassed me at CNN, and I never went to management,” he claimed.
“First of all, I was so new there. She knew I was gay. It was just bizarre. She was going through a divorce. … It was weird,” he added.
The news anchor said he “never went to management” because he feared the network would “get rid” of him.
“I thought, ‘OK, they may find a way to get rid of me, because if I told this story, I don’t know if they’re gonna believe me or not,’” he continued.
“But then she was so mean to me after that, I was like, ‘I should have told the story.’”
Page Six has reached out to CNN for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Lemon joined the news organization in 2006 but was fired in 2023 after making sexist remarks on air.
The following year, CNN reportedly paid the “I Once Was Lost” author $24.5 million to settle his termination.
However, a spokesperson for the channel told Page Six at the time, “While we never comment on specifics of any employee contract, this story is incorrect.”
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