CNN host Don Lemon apologized Friday during the network's morning editorial call after receiving public backlash for allegedly "sexist" comments a day prior, Fox News reported.
Lemon delivered the plea following a Twitter post on Thursday afternoon calling his statement that former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley "isn't in her prime" an "inartful and irrelevant" remark.
Before the apology, CNN CEO Chris Licht condemned Lemon's comments as a "huge distraction." He also said they were "upsetting, unacceptable, and unfair" to Lemon's female co-hosts before handing it over.
"I'm sorry I don't mean to hurt anyone. I did not mean to offend anyone," Lemon told his colleagues on Friday. "What I said came out wrong, and I wish I hadn't said it. I believe women of any age can do anything they set their minds to. The people I am closest to in this organization are women."
"When I make a mistake. I own it, and I own this one as well. I understand why you are upset and disappointed," he continued. "I was trying to make the point that no one's age should define their ambition or potential for success, and I was saying those comments to Nikki Haley."
A source at CNN claimed many interpreted it as an "all-about-me failed apology attempt."
It comes one day after Lemon on "CNN This Morning" criticized Haley, a Republican presidential candidate in 2024, for endorsing the mandatory mental competency testing of politicians over 75 years old.
"I'm just saying what the facts are. Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime, it says 20s, 30s, and 40s," Lemon suggested. "And I'm just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politicians are not in their prime, and they need to be in their prime when they serve. Because she wouldn't be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is."
Lemon was absent from the show Friday due to pre-planned paid time off, CNN informed USA Today.
The New York Post editorial board called for Lemon's termination at CNN shortly after the incident, writing that "obviously a 56-year-old Don Lemon is not in his prime, though we're not sure exactly when that was."
"Ratings out this week reveal that 'CNN This Morning' is the network's lowest-rated morning show in nearly a decade, sinking 18.6% in viewership among adults 25-54," the outlet highlighted. "We'd bet that kicking Lemon to the curb and leaving it to Collins and Harlow would deliver an instant ratings boost."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.