After being blindsided by CNN, which unceremoniously fired him Monday after 17 years on the job, Don Lemon isn’t in any hurry to plot his next move.
“I’m gonna spend my summer on the beach and on the boat, and with my family, and just chill out,” he said on the red carpet at the Time 100 Gala in New York City on Wednesday evening.
Speaking to an Extra correspondent, Lemon continued, “And then I’ll see what happens next, but I’m fortunate enough to be in a position where I can do that.”
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“I have time,” he added. “I don’t have to rush to another job—even if I want another job.”
The veteran anchor was quick to stress that he does want to get back to work. Asked if he was excited about “a new chapter,” Lemon said he was.
“I think life is short, and whatever life hands you, you have to bob and weave—and do it,” he explained, going on to say that he was “a survivor” from “strong, sturdy stock in Louisiana.”
Would he do anything differently? No.
“I live my life with no regrets and whatever I did, I did, and I own [it],” he said.
Having learned of his termination after finishing his morning broadcast, Lemon beat his network to the punch in announcing his departure, salting the earth behind him in a fiery statement.
“I am stunned,” he wrote. “After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have 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.”
Less than an hour before, star Fox News host Tucker had been similarly caught unawares in an ousting by his own longtime network. Both men hired the same attorney, the famously combative Bryan Freedman, to handle their respective exits.
On Tuesday, those at CNN who still had their jobs remembered their fallen colleague fondly, but shared few details on the split.
In a statement that was posted onscreen during CNN This Morning, chief executive Chris Licht said, “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
