Piers Morgan accused former CNN host Don Lemon of “being a complete d***” as the two personalities engaged in a shouting match on Piers Morgan Uncensored on Thursday.
The interview, which focused on free speech in the US and the reaction to the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk last week, was civil for the first 15 minutes.
However, Lemon turned sour after Morgan asked whether he felt he was a victim of cancel culture following his departure from CNN in April 2023, two months after he made controversial remarks about former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
“Um, I– probably,” Lemon answered. “Probably yes. I’m sure that I was a victim of cancel culture.”
Morgan then played the controversial clip of Lemon being berated by female colleagues after he said, “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry. When a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s– If you Google, ‘When is a woman in her prime?’ it will say, 20s, 30s, and 40s.”
After the clip concluded, Morgan continued his line of questioning.
“I happened to be watching that live and I was like, ‘Whoa, what did you just say?’ I mean, if you had a do-over, would you say that again? I mean, what led you to say that?”
Lemon took issue with the question.
“When I asked you what subjects you wanted to talk about, you know what you said to me? You said, ‘I want to talk to you about freedom of speech in America and the response to Charlie Kirk’s death.’
“Not once did you mention that we were going to talk about CNN or whatever, and had I known that, I probably wouldn’t have accepted this interview,” he answered.
Morgan hit back at claims of an ambush, noting that Lemon had brought up the subject of cancel culture before he had asked whether Lemon felt his departure from CNN was an example of it.
Tensions boiled over as the two began to shout over each other. “What are you talking about?! I think you’re being a complete d***, if I’m honest with you. I do!” Morgan said.
Lemon sarcastically noted the “kind and respectful” remark before Morgan responded that he had no intention of being “kind or respectful”.
“I could respond in kind, but I won’t because I think that I am above that,” Lemon said.
Morgan responded: “You can say what you like about me, I don’t care… I don’t understand why you’re playing the victim card when you yourself mentioned cancel culture.”
The two men eventually moved on from the exchange. They returned to discussing Charlie Kirk before talking about gun laws - but the mood was markedly more tense than it had previously been, and both continued firing barbs at each other.
After the interview was recorded and before it was released live, Morgan wrote on X: “My Don Lemon interview is dropping very soon. I still don’t understand what the hell happened to make him behave like such a monumental d***.”
He later said: “Don Lemon is going absolutely berserk about me on his Instagram story… which makes me think he’s panicking about how he comes over in our interview that drops on @PiersUncensored tonight. He’s right to panic… he comes over as a whiny, touchy, arrogant little d***.”
Lemon took to Instagram to say: “I wish we could have had a productive conversation instead of Piers diving into the garbage.
“Sorry, guys… I thought this would be a productive conversation, but he just wanted clickbait moments. No surprise — I should have known better!”
Support floods in for Kimmel as ‘threats’ mount against Kirk family: Live updates
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt now has her own Secret Service detail
The sinister role of ‘black-pilling’ in the murder of Charlie Kirk
Charlie Kirk's AI resurrection ushers in a new era of digital grief
Disney execs and Kimmel haggled over response to FCC Charlie Kirk complaint
Who is Morgan Ortagus, Trump’s envoy who opposed Gaza ceasefire?
