Howard Stern joked that CNN managed to quickly “cure” Don Lemon of his sexist views as the scandal-ridden anchor returned to the network Wednesday after a three-day absence.
The shock jock made reference to the “formal training” that Lemon has reportedly agreed to undertake after he triggered outrage by declaring GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, “isn’t in her prime” because she’s a woman.
“They took Don Lemon, they suspended him for a day and they sent him right into sensitivity training and then he came back the next day, he was all cured,” Stern said on Wednesday’s episode of his SiriusXM show. “I said, that’s fantastic. They must have an expert over there.”
“I’ve been in therapy 30 years, I think, and I’m still not cured,” Stern continued. This guy went to sensitivity training in a day and they fixed him. I would like to interview the person that does the training, because this person’s a genius.”
Lemon made no mention of his controversial remarks during his return to “CNN This Morning” – opting instead to tweet an apology shortly after going on-air.
Later in the discussion, a producer commented that “CNN This Morning” has struggled with poor ratings – prompting another dig from Stern.
“I guess he was trying to pump up the ratings by saying something silly,” Stern joked. “Listen, no one knows that better than me. I’ve said tons of silly things.”
Stern and his co-host Robin Quivers also ripped Lemon over the original remark that sparked fury.
“Obviously on CNN, you don’t say a woman is in her prime, in her twenties and thirties, you know?” Stern said.
“Well, if you have any sense, you don’t ever say it. I don’t care where you are,” Quivers replied.
Mediaite was first to post Stern’s remarks.
Critics called for Lemon to be suspended or fired over his remarks about women, which took place during a discussion about Haley’s call for politicians over age 75 to submit to mental competency tests.
“This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable,” Lemon said. “I think it’s the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime.”
“A woman is considered to be in their prime in [their] 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” Lemon continued, shocking co-hosts Kaitlin Collins and Poppy Harlow.
In the apology shared on his Twitter account earlier in the day, Lemon said he was “committed to doing better” in the future. Lemon had previously admitted his remarks as “inartful and irrelevant.”
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
