Don Lemon says he was “harassed” by both “women and men” during his 17 years at CNN.
“I have been harassed by women and men in the work[place]. And some things are not even…it’s ridiculous,” Lemon told Bill Maher during an appearance on his “Club Random” podcast. “Now look, there are some things that are really egregious, but not everything is Harvey Weinstein-level.”
CNN declined Variety‘s request for comment.
Without naming any names, Lemon said there was one incident where a “young lady” coworker “tweaked my nipples” while in the cafeteria before saying, “‘Oh, it’s cold in here!’”
“I said, ‘OK, you realize if I did that they’d be walking me out the door right now?’” Lemon said. “But I didn’t care to go to HR. I didn’t say anything because I was just like, ‘It’s a double standard, it’s fine.’”
Lemon went on to detail a second run-in with another woman when he was still “so new” at the network.
“I’ve never told this story as well, someone who I worked with also harassed me at CNN, and I never went to management,” Lemon recalled. “First of all, I was so new there…[it was] a woman, and she knew I was gay. And it was bizarre. She was going through a divorce, it was just weird. And I never went to management. First of all, I thought, like, OK, they may find a way to get rid of me because if I told this story, I don’t know if they’re going to believe me or not. But then she was so mean to me after that, I was like, ‘I should’ve told the story.’ But yeah, I’ve been harassed by men and women.”
When asked for more details surrounding the second example, Lemon said it wasn’t a one-off comment in-office, but instead took place at an after-work gathering.
“There’s a lot of cocktail parties, and remember, this was a while ago and there was not Uber or anything like that, and if you are in Atlanta, taxis aren’t available,” Lemon said. “And so you say, ‘Hey, we’ve had a couple drinks, do you mind if I like’…‘No, no, no, don’t go home, stay in the guest room.’ That sort of thing.”
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