OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Don Lemon appeared to engage in a melodramatic moment on Monday following Super Bowl LVII when he was discussing who Twitter CEO Elon Musk was seated with during the championship game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs the previous day.
As cameras swept the stadium looking for famous faces, they focused at one point on Musk who was sharing a booth with Fox Corp. Chairman and News Corp. Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch, as well as Murdoch’s daughter, Elizabeth.
For some reason, the two of them seated together didn’t sit well with Lemon, who remarked, “Wow, they actually did it. It’s a little frightening, I must say.”
However, one of his co-hosts, Kaitlan Collins, did not share the same sentiment and, in fact, said she wasn’t at all surprised by the combo. Ditto for Semafor editor-in-chief Ben Smith, who remarked that “it seems like the most predictable thing in the world.”
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“It stood out, but it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, wow,'” Collins remarked.
Musk and Murdoch were seen together in a booth at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., home to the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. After a photo of the two of them seated side by side went viral online, users openly speculated as to what they may be discussing. Musk responded to one post, “dogecoin” — a cryptocurrency that he often promotes.
Dogecoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 13, 2023
As for Lemon, he’s had a rough time since being moved from a primetime evening solo gig to playing co-host of the network’s revamped morning show.
According to the New York Post, tensions on the set of “CNN This Morning” are rising as the show tanks and as Lemon, apparently, is unhappy sharing on-air duties with co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Collins. The report said that Lemon had a tense moment in December off-camera, “screaming” at Collins in an “incident that has left the cast and crew rattled ever since.”
The Post noted: “According to two sources with knowledge of the situation, the 56-year-old Lemon approached 30-year-old Collins following the show’s Thursday, Dec. 8 broadcast — and unloaded on her in front of staffers as he accused her of “interrupting” him on air. News of the explosive incident made it’s way up to CNN CEO Chris Licht, who is said to have been appalled by Lemon’s behavior, according to a source. A second source said a producer talked to Lemon at the behest of Licht and told the anchor to take the next day off to cool off.”
“Don screamed at Kaitlan, who was visibly upset and ran out of the studio,” one source with knowledge of the incident told The Post.
The outlet noted that the night after the incident, Lemon, Harlow, and Collins were scheduled to get drinks and travel together to a White House Christmas party for media figures, the source noted. However, the gathering never took place and the three traveled to the party separately, said “an insider.” Following the party, Lemon and his agent, Jay Sures, had a late-night dinner, sources added.
The Post noted that things are “especially awkward” because Collins, viewed as “a rising star” with the network whose most recent assignment prior to taking the morning show gig was serving as CNN’s youngest White House correspondent, is also represented by “the powerful and well-connected Sures.”
“At this point, Kaitlan wants to be on set with Don as little as possible,” one source with knowledge of what’s going on told The Post. “It’s messy.”
In addition, the Washington Examiner reported last week that ratings for “CNN This Morning” were the worst this week since Lemon joined in November after what he insisted on-air was a “promotion.”
The outlet added:
During the week of Jan. 16, Nielsen data show Lemon drew an average of 408,000 total viewers, with a mere average of 87,000 viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic. The ratings struggle did not help CNN. It placed 15th overall in total day viewership — the network’s smallest delivery since 2014, according to TVNewser.
Fox News continued to dominate in the ratings last week, leading ad-supported basic cable networks in total viewers with an average of 1.39 million viewers and placing second in the key 25-54 demographic, behind ESPN, with 176,000 viewers. CNN’s liberal media rival MSNBC placed third in total day viewers with 629,000 viewers.
