Don Lemon, the birth name of Donald Carlton Lemon, is a popular American television journalist who has been working as a part of CNN since the year of 2006. Currently, Lemon holds the position of presenter and news anchor of the popular CNN news program titled “CNN Tonight”. He got much prominence and recognition in the world of journalism for being with the show for the past 6 years since 2014.
He previously worked as a news correspondent for NBC’s shows including “Today” and “NBC Nightly News”. Regarded as one of the prominent presenters in television journalism, he has been awarded an Edward R. Murrow Award and three regional Emmy Awards.
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What to Know More About CNN News Anchor Don Lemon
The CNN star anchor, Lemon hasn’t hesitated to question about the ire of President Donald Trump from his very first days of the presidency. Not only he has been the “Soldier for The Army of Truth” for the past several years, but Lemon also has established himself as an emotionally expressive and openly opinionated public figure.
In April 2020, Lemon alongside political commentator Van Jones launched the first edition of a special series, “The Color of COVID” about the coronavirus and race.
Don Lemon Biography
Here, 10 things you need to know about Don Lemon
10. Black American Journalist
Don Lemon is proudly an African-American citizen who hasn’t stopped to pursue his dreams despite the disgusting racist society of America. Lemon has Carole ancestry and grew up as a black boy in the “so-called” White society of the USA.
He suffered colorism in the black community and sexual abuse as a child. For his color, he has been judged and questioned several times not by others but especially by President Donald Trump as Trump even called him “the dumbest man on television”. Lemon was also voted as one of the 150 most influential African Americans by Ebony magazine in 2009.
9. Publicly Came Out as a Gay
Lemon isn’t scared about the judging world as he didn’t even give a second thought when it came to his sexuality. He publicly came out as gay with his 2011 memoir, “Transparent”. With his announcement, Lemon became “one of the few openly gay black men in broadcasting.”
He has stated that he has known about his sexuality since the age of five or six. But he revealed to his mother when he turned 30. However, it wasn’t a smooth journey for him as he suffered several backlashes and sexual abuse for being the real him.
Lemon was also listed as one of the Advocate’s 50 Most Influential LGBTQ People in Media in 2014. Also, in 2017, Lemon was named on the Power 50 list of “the most influential LGBTQ people in the USA” by OUT.
8. “CNN Tonight” star Anchor
Lemon currently is said to be one of the best anchors in the television broadcasting thanks to CNN. Since his joining in CNN as a correspondent from September 2006, he has been outspoken in his work on CNN. He initially hosted CNN’s New Year’s Eve special from New Orleans back in 2014.
He rose to prominence as the presenter of the popular news program, “CNN Tonight” in 2014. He has been hosting the show smoothly for over 6 years on his own as in 2020.
With his position as a news anchor at CNN, Lemon receives a handful of checks worth $4 million as his salary amassing a wholesome of net worth estimated to be around $12 million.
7. “Soldier for The Army of Truth”
For being amazingly outspoken at his work, Lemon is also called by the name of the “Soldier for The Army of Truth”. Despite the existing difference in race and color, he has been speaking his heart out as a representative of the whole of America. He has even criticized the state of cable news and questioned the network publicly.
He has also voiced strong opinions for the African American community at what scale they can improve their lives and hasn’t hesitated to point out the finger to the racist President Donald Trump on behalf of millions of Black Americans. His statement towards the white supremacists calling them a bigger threat to the country than immigrants gained him much attention in 2018.
6. Target of Trump and White Supremacists
Lemon got caught up by the eye of President Donald Trump back in 2018 when he introduced his broadcast with, “This is CNN Tonight, I’m Don Lemon. The president of the United States is racist.” Those sentences not only were the outspoken criticism of the Trump administration but were the actual loud voice of unheard millions of Black Americans.
His accusations of racism against President Trump made him the target of Trump and white supremacists. He even received death threats laced with racial slurs for which he filed a police report detailing the incident back in 2017.
5. Recipient of Several Allocates
For his marvelous work in the world of broadcasting for over 20 years, Lemon has received several awards and allocates. For his coverage of the capture of the D.C. area sniper, he won an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2002. For a business feature about Craigslist real estate listings and for reporting on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, Lemon was awarded three Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards in 2006.
Lemon was also honored with a Native Son Award to encourage the increased visibility and impact of black gay men in society in December 2016. Besides, in the modern LGBTQ rights movement, Queerty named him one of the Pride50 “trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance, and dignity for all queer people”.
4. Dedicated his book to Tyler Clementi
Don Lemon had written a memoir titled “Transparent” in 2011. In the memoir, he himself publicly came out as gay and discussed the colorism, racist society, and sexual abuse. The book was released around the time when many teenagers were committing suicide after getting victimized by sexual abuse and cybercrime. Lemon actually dedicated the book to Tyler Clementi, a college student who took his own life back on September 22, 2010, after his roommate outed him online via webcam where Clementi was seen kissing other men.
3. Engaged to Real Estate Agent Tim Malone
Lemon is currently engaged to his boyfriend, Tim Malone. Malone is an American real estate agent with whom Lemon announced getting engaged via Instagram: @donlemoncnn in April 2019. Lemon shared a picture of bowtie-shaped dog tags engraved, “DADDY WILL YOU MARRY PAPA?” as well as displaying their couple rings and captioned the picture, “He gave me a present on his birthday. How could I say no?”.
The tags were on their puppies, Boomer, and Barkley. Lemon and Malone met back in 2017 after which they began dating. Lemon confirmed their relationship when he publicly kissed Malone on CNN New Year’s Live show on January 1, 2018, in front of his co-anchor, Brooke Baldwin on a live show, which was shared on Twitter.
2. Previously Worked at NBC and MSNBC
Before being a presenter at CNN, Lemon worked as a news correspondent for several agencies including NBC and MSNBC. His first work was as a news assistant at WNYM. He also reported as a weekend news anchor for WBRC in Birmingham, Alabama, and for WCAU in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania back then.
He also reported for NBC News’s New York City operations, as a correspondent for both Today and NBC Nightly News. He worked as an anchor on Weekend Today and programs on MSNBC as well.
His last few years at NBC was working as a reporter and local news co-anchor at NBC owned-and-operated station WMAQ working where he won 3 Emmy Awards.
1. Hails from Louisiana
Born on March 1, 1966, with Pisces as his zodiac sign Don Lemon, hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Lemon was born as Donald Carlton Lemon, with Carole ancestry as one of the three children of his parents: Richardson(father) and Katherine Clark(mother). He was the brother of his two sisters, Yma and Leisa.
Growing up as a gay back boy in the Louisiana city, Lemon was a strong and smart boy as he was even voted class president during his senior year at Baker High School. He later attended Louisiana State University, before moving to Brooklyn, New York, to study broadcast journalism at Brooklyn College.
CNN Anchor Don lemon Salary
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