Don Lemon Will Return to CNN Morning Show

CNN’s morning show isn’t peeling away from Don Lemon.

The anchor will return to “CNN This Morning” on Wednesday, despite delivering a set of controversial remarks last week, the latest maneuver in what has become a more difficult than expected effort by the Warner Bros Discovery-backed outlet to shake up its programming.

“I sat down with Don and had a frank and meaningful conversation. He has agreed to participate in formal training, as well as continuing to listen and learn. We take this situation very seriously,” CNN CEO Chris Licht said in a memo Monday night. “It is important to me that CNN balances accountability with fostering a culture in which people can own, learn and grow from their mistakes. To that end, Don will return to CNN This Morning on Wednesday.”

Lemon, who has become one of CNN’s best-known anchors after leading a late-evening program that gave him room to talk about controversial issues involving race and culture, has not been on “CNN This Morning” since last Thursday. That’s when he made some remarks about when women are in their prime, during a segment about comments from new Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley regarding the age of some of her political rivals.

“She says people, you know, politicians or something are not in their prime,” Lemon said on the program. “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.” The comment spurred co-anchorPoppy Harlowto try to get Lemon to modify his stance. “What are you talking about, wait — prime for what?” she asked, a move that resulted in Lemon stepping even further into his position. “If you Google ‘when is a woman in her prime,’ it’ll say 20s, 30s and 40s,” he replied.

Lemon subsequently apologized to viewers via social media and to CNN staffers on Friday during an internal editorial call.

The incident was the latest in a series of missed communications among the three co-anchors of “CNN This Morning,” a new A.M. effort from CNN that aims to marry Lemon’s gift for conversation with the journalism of co-anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. The formula hasn’t always been successful, with Lemon appearing to scold Collins in one recent broadcast and Harlow often playing the role of referee during some of Lemon’s more provocative moments.

CNN took a big risk by moving Lemon from his longtime primetime perch to mornings. The shift has left CNN with two hours to fill and it’s not clear at present that “CNN Tonight,” a discussion program led by Allisyn Camerota or Laura Coates that has replaced Lemon’s nighttime program, has gained traction. But Licht has enjoyed an excellent record with morning TV, having helped launch MSNBC’s durable “Morning Joe” franchise and retool CBS’ “CBS This Morning.”

Morning-TV observers believe Lemon’s comments Thursday were particularly detrimental because they took aim at an important part of the A.M. audience: women over 40. Advertisers pay the most for news programs that attract the most people between 25 and 54, and with his remarks on Thursday, Lemon may have alienated some of them. There is also concern within CNN that his line of reasoning may have offended female newsmakers who CNN would hope to book on its programs.

Viewership for “CNN This Morning” has fallen off since its launch in November, according to data from Nielsen. In its first month on the air, the show won an average of 99,000 viewers between 25 and 54. In January, that crowd had fallen to an average of 74,000, a decline of approximately 25%.

When Lemon returns on Wednesday, he, Harlow and Collins will truly need to get back to work.