FACT CHECK: Did Don Lemon Announce His Last Show On CNN?

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

A viral Facebook post shared over 500 times claims CNN anchor Don Lemon announced “his last show on CNN.”

Verdict: False

Lemon did not announce “his last show on CNN.” On Twitter, he said his show was rebranding to “Don Lemon Tonight.”

Fact Check:

The viral May 14 post reads, “Don Lemon announced that tonight will be his last show on CNN. One by one they fall!” (RELATED: Does This Photo Show Don Lemon With Jeffrey Epstein?)

Lemon said May 14 on “CNN Tonight with Don Lemon” that “this is the last night that will be ‘CNN Tonight with Don Lemon’” and that “changes are coming.” The brief announcement prompted social media users to speculate Lemon’s show was ending and he was leaving the network.

That is, however, not the case. Lemon clarified on Twitter the same day he was not leaving CNN.

“Everybody calm down,” he said, in part, in the video he tweeted. “I didn’t say I was leaving CNN. I just said it was the end of an era for ‘CNN Tonight with Don Lemon.’”

He then provided further clarification in a May 15 tweet, saying that he would “be back on Monday with my newly named show Don Lemon Tonight.” His two-hour program was just renamed, according to CNN Business.

“Didn’t mean to set the internet on fire,” he tweeted. “What I said last night was true. CNN Tonight with Don Lemon is no more. I’ll be back on Monday with my newly named show Don Lemon Tonight. See you Monday at 10pE.”

He has since anchored the show under its new name, which debuted May 17, according to the video-clip editing service Grabien. During his May 17 program, Lemon said that while the show has a new name, it has an “even stronger mission” and a “renewed commitment” to “have the kinds of conversations that America needs if we’re going to move ahead as a country.”

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
Follow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].

Trending