Don Lemon says he was sexually harassed while on the job at CNN. And he never spoke out about it at the time because he feared he wouldn’t be believed.
Lemon made the admission during a sit down on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, during which he told Maher, “Someone who I worked with harassed me at CNN.” He added, “I’ve never told this story.”
Maher prompted Lemon to open up when he said, “I’m sure if you had a nickel for every time someone’s hand drifted down your waist when you were taking a picture with them, you’d be a very rich man.” Lemon replied in the affirmative. “I would. I have been harassed by women and men in the workplace, and some things are not even—it’s just, it’s ridiculous.”
Prodding further, Maher said, “Tell us. I’m very interested.”
Lemon eased into the reveal by describing a time he was touched inappropriately at Atlanta’s CNN headquarters. “When I was in Atlanta and was in the cafeteria, commissary, whatever it’s called, at CNN. And this woman, a young lady, tweaked my nipples and said, ‘Oh, it’s cold in here.’ And I said, ‘OK. You realize if I did that, they’d be walking me out the door right now,’” he said, explaining why he decided not to amplify the incident.
“I didn’t care,” he continued, “I didn’t go to HR. I didn’t say anything because I was just like, it’s a double standard.” Maher offered a “good for you” in response.
That’s when Lemon revealed that a female CNN co-worker had also sexually harassed him. “She knew I was gay, and it was just bizarre. She was going through a divorce.” He “never went to management,” since “I was so new there” and he thought “they may find a way to get rid of me because if I told this story.” That said, Lemon admitted he now wishes he’d come forward at the time.
“She was so mean to me after that, I said like, ‘I should have told the story.’”
Maher, apparently unsatisfied without the details, prodded further, “What constituted this harassment? What did she physically—like in the office? Like, ‘Come in and twirl for me, Don?’’”
All Lemon would confirm was that the incidents in question never took place “in the office,” though he alluded to having possibly stayed over in that co-worker’s guest room when things went awry. “This was a while ago and there was not Uber and anything like that,” he said, so after a “couple drinks” it was commonplace to catch a ride to a co-worker’s house.
Maher responded, “I wish I had been harassed this much, quite honestly. I think it’s flattering as long as you can fend them off easily.”
