00:00Don Lemon is looking back on his CNN exit and feeling vindicated after CEO Chris Licht was
00:06ousted from the network. In a conversation with Kara Swisher on her podcast Pivot, Lemon opened
00:12up about being let go from CNN two months after making comments about how Nikki Haley was no
00:17longer in her prime. Lemon is claiming CNN was getting ready to go in a different direction and
00:22he didn't fit that mold. They did not want me to be a part of that and I think that has from what
00:27has played out publicly as it relates to CNN, as it relates to management and what they're doing
00:31now. I think that it's obvious that they didn't want me to be a part of that and I think that's
00:36a real issue that happened. The former anchor also explained that he hasn't watched the network since
00:40his departure. Lemon also touched on Chris Licht being let go at the network shortly after ousting
00:46him. Read the story and you speak to the people who are there and I think people get what happened.
00:51All you have to do is read the Atlantic story, read the subsequent stories that came out and how it
00:55played out. They're gone now. So do I feel vindicated in that sense? Yes, I do. He also
01:01claimed that had Jeff Zucker been heading the network when Lemon made the comments about Haley
01:05for which he apologized, things would have played out differently. He said in part, he was very
01:10supportive of us and he wanted us to not necessarily be provocative, but just to be ourselves. And if we
01:15got something wrong, we apologized. We explained it and he supported us and we moved on. For more details
01:21on this story, head to THR.com. And for the latest entertainment news and updates, keep watching
01:27The Hollywood Reporter News.
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