Major developments in TV news happened on Monday morning when commentators Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were fired by both Fox News and CNN respectively.
Fox News announced the organization parted ways with Carlson shortly after making the effort to fend off a defamation lawsuit by paying $800 million to Dominion Voting Systems, according to a Monday article by NBC news.
The announcement that CNN parted ways with Lemon came right after the announcement about Carlson, according to a Monday article by NPR.
Lemon recently came back from a hiatus, after using both sexist and ageist language on air, according to the same NPR article.
In the past, Lemon spoke about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley during an episode of “CNN This Morning,” according to the same NPR article.
Lemon said she “wasn't in her prime,” and insinuated that she would be “considered in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”
In 2022, Carlson went on air and spoke about the “attractiveness” of the brown M&M, after owner Mars changed the look of their M&M characters, according to a Jan. 24, 2022 YouTube video by The Young Turks.
Mars changed the green M&M from one with white heels to one with white sneakers and the brown M&M from having white stiletto heels to having smaller block heels.
“M&Ms will not be satisfied until every last cartoon character is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous, until the moment you wouldn't want to have a drink with any one of them,” Carlson said during one of his segments. “When you’re totally turned off, we've achieved equity. They've won.”
This isn't the only time Carlson used controversial terminology and tactics.
In response to his termination, Lemon released a statement on his Twitter page, saying he was stunned by the news.
“After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly,” Lemon wrote in the Twitter post on Monday. “At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I loved at the network.”
Lemon went on to talk about how he thinks there was more to the story and how thankful he is that he was able to have such an amazing run at the network.
“It is clear that there are some larger issues at play. With that said, I want to thank my colleagues and the many teams I have worked with for an incredible run,” Lemon wrote. “They are the most talented journalists in the business, and I wish them all the best.”
Both Fox News and CNN released statements following these moves.
Fox News released a statement in a press release stating, “FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways.”
The company also reiterated the date of Carlson’s final broadcast saying, “Mr. Carlson’s last program was Friday April 21st.”
CNN also released a statement in reference to Lemon.
The company said in a tweet, “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the last 17 years.”
CNN added, “we wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
