![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Lemon was 41, while the staffer was 22.) The ambitious anchor, who is gay, was not out of the closet at the time, but wasn’t hiding it either. All the while, he began openly dating a fresh-out-of-college staffer despite a major age difference and power imbalance. Through a CNN spokesperson, Lemon says he never sued the Chicago PD). He frequently let drop that he successfully sued Tower Records as well as the Chicago PD for racial profiling and didn’t need to worry about money thanks to the settlements. ( Variety can only find record of the former, which was settled in 2001 and appears to be sealed. Some were unnerved by his talk of his previous lawsuits, believing it signaled that he was litigious. Those who worked with him say he was a shameless name dropper and left behind hints that he socialized with important people, like a hand-written note from Stedman Graham that he had taped on his computer. Variety spoke with more than a dozen former and current colleagues who painted a picture of a journalist who flouted rules and cozied up to power all while displaying open hostility to many female co-workers. Each and every time, he appeared to charm his way out of facing any meaningful consequences. Still, the incident has spotlighted Lemon’s troubling treatment of women and unprofessional antics, dating back nearly two decades. Despite the outcry, he landed back on his feet after riding the bench for two days, posting a Twitter mea culpa in which he insisted that he is “committed to doing better” and ignoring the matter altogether during his Feb. 16 Haley comments - derided as “unacceptable” and “sexist” by everyone from CNN chair Chris Licht to Haley herself, and even referenced by Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh during her best actress acceptance speech - his fate at CNN hung in the balance, with many colleagues privately calling for his ouster. CNN cannot corroborate the alleged events from 15 years ago.” Phillips, who joined ABC as a Washington-based correspondent in 2018, declined comment. A spokesperson for CNN said, “Don says the alleged incident never occurred and that he was never notified of any investigation. A human resources investigation was launched, and while the findings were never disclosed to the growing pool of staffers who were aware of the situation, Lemon was abruptly pulled from his co-anchor duties with Phillips and moved to the weekends. It was a demotion by any objective measure and understood to be some kind of disciplinary action. It appears to be the last time he was paired with a female anchor until his most recent assignment on “CNN This Morning With Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.” Remarkably, the texts were traced back to Lemon, according to those same sources. One night while dining with members of the news team, she received the first of two threatening text messages from an unknown number on her flip phone that warned, “Now you’ve crossed the line, and you’re going to pay for it.” Phillips was visibly rattled and quickly enlisted CNN’s higher ups to identify the sender. When she returned from Iraq, things only got weirder. While Phillips was on assignment in Iraq - a high-profile gig that Lemon coveted - he vented his disappointment at being passed over by tearing up pictures and notes on top of and inside Phillips’ desk in the news pod they shared, according to two sources who worked there at the time. But his antipathy toward Phillips was particularly concerning and had many members of the close-knit Atlanta news team on edge.
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