Don Lemonis breaking his silence aboutbeing fired from CNN.
In his first one-on-one interview since he was let go from the news network in April, Lemon, 57, spoke about his duties as a journalist and what his future holds.
“I’m not a perfect person. No one is," he added. “In order to fulfill the promise of the Constitution, we have to stand up for what is right. We have to stand up for the truth.”
He noted how that type of reporting goes against his beliefs as a journalist, stating, “That is what has gotten me to this point, and that is what is going to carry me forward.”
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The longtime anchorannounced his firingfrom CNN in a tweet published on April 24.
He continued: “After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play.”
Lemon ended his statement with a thank you to his colleagues.
“With that said, I want to thank my colleagues and the many teams I have worked with for an incredible run,” he said. “They are the most talented journalists in the business, and I wish them all the best.”
Don Lemon.Dominik Bindl/Getty
Within the hour, CNN’s public relations team had released a counter statement,accusing Lemon of misrepresentingthe way that things went down.
“Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate,” CNN Communications tweeted. “He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”
“I’m not going to force anything. I’m not going to let other people’s timeline influence me. I don’t have to be in a rush. I think sometimes people rush to make decisions and they end up making the wrong decisions,” he said.
“I’m not worried at all,” Lemon added. “People are concerned about me, and are more worried about me than I am about myself. I’m fine.”
source: people.com
