Don Lemon appears to have a sweet new deal with social-media giant X.
The former CNN anchor, who parted ways with the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet last year after he was moved to duties on its morning program, said Tuesday that he had launched a new media company and would be debuting a new program via X.
The new program, “The Don Lemon Show,” will allow him to be “bigger, bolder, freer,” Lemon said in a posting. The show “will be available to everyone, easily, whenever and wherever you want it, streaming on the platforms where conversations are happening. And you’ll find it first on X, the biggest space for free speech in the world. I know now more than ever that we need a place for honest debate and discussion without the hall monitors. This is just the beginning so stay tuned.”
“Don’s new company will take his no-holds-barred approach to storytelling to the next level in this raw and authentic program,” said Oren Rosenbaum, head of audio and a partner at UTA, which represents Lemon. “Leveraging technology like AI and many decades worth of experience, Don will break news and provoke thoughtful conversation through his direct and unfiltered take on today’s most important stories.” X also plans to debut new programs from former politician Tulsi Gabbard and sportscaster Jim Rome in a bid to broaden its video offerings.
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Lemon has long desired to deliver more outspoken commentary, and has made no secret of his ambitions. “I would like it to be a little bit looser. I would love it to be like HBO. I would love to be able to say those things you never say on basic cable. I would love to be able to have those conversations the way Bill Maher does,” he told Variety of his late-prime CNN program during a 2016 interview. In 2022, CNN unveiled plans for Lemon to host a weekly talk show with a live in-studio audience for CNN+, the subscription-based streaming video service that was scuttled within days of it launch by the news outlet’s corporate parent.
Talks between Lemon and X have been going on for the past six months, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The new X program is expected to debut in the next few weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter, and should give Lemon a home base of sorts to talk about subjects ranging from politics to cultural issues to human interest stories. Details about personnel Lemon might rely upon for the program or the ambitions of his new media company were not immediately available.
Lemon’s program is the latest to surface on X, which appears to be cultivating relationships with outspoken personalities. Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News opinion host, has also devised a program for the venue, though it has tapped extreme figures and unproven theories for some of its content.
The show would launch a new chapter for Lemon, who, in another era, was one of the best-known personalities at CNN. Lemon rose under the tenure of Jeff Zucker, the former CNN Worldwide president, who moved the anchor who was at the time working a weekend shift on air. Lemon immediately offered a more provocative version of the typical CNN newscast, once opening a program with the words: ““This is CNN Tonight, I’m Don Lemon. The president of the United States is racist. A lot of us already knew that.”
Warner Bros. Discovery initially tried to tamp down spirited commentary at CNN, in hopes of cultivating a new relationship with conservative viewers in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Anchors such as Lemon, Brian Stelter and John Harwood came under new scrutiny. Lemon’s move to mornings, orchestrated by former CNN chief Chris Licht, did not gel. He clashed with colleagues such as Kaitlan Collins and found that the spicy commentary that served him well at nights was not as pleasing to A.M. audiences.
