But it’s what other things Lemon texted that may be of interest in the corner office at CNN.
Now that CNN has established a bright-line test for getting rid of its anchors — no, not for lying on the air, but using the network’s resources to help friends and family — Don Lemon might be wondering if he might be “Chris Cuomo’d.”
The CNN anchor’s name has come up in the Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax trial and he might have some ‘splainin’ to do.
No one less than Jussie Smollett himself testified on Monday that he texted with the CNN anchor and the message was pivotal to his defense. Indeed, right after the “attack” on Smollett, Lemon admitted to texting the actor every day because “there’s not a lot of us out there. Sometimes he responds, sometimes he doesn’t.”, , ,
If CNN is to be impartial they need to suspend Lemon until further review, but they wont because the blow back would be huge to suspend a black gay guy. A cis white male is so much easier to discipline.. . .
This, Sadly, Is CNN Things are so bad that Chris Cuomo’s downfall isn’t even all that surprising. . . .
"CNN is an embarrassment. It might be the single most dishonest media entity on the planet. Even the Korean Central News Agency, the mouthpiece of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, doesn’t pretend to be objective as it blasts out propaganda to the world. But CNN does.
"None of that is news, of course. It’s been two decades since CNN gave up on attempting to be objective. They just lie and say they are these days. But what makes CNN’s corruption noteworthy is that it has branched out beyond the airwaves.". . .
Why would they care? Why would these actions be disqualifying? CNN isn’t a news organization; it’s an advocacy and propaganda shop. It exists to push narratives favored by its corporate overlords or the petty middle managers who run its newsroom. Or the pet causes of its on-air talent.
Talent?
It's an outrageous break with newsroom ethics around the issue of conflicts of interest. Here Lemon was using his privileged position in the news to help a hate-crime suspect beat charges by giving him an advantage. His thumb on the scale of justice here amounted to a whopping conflict of interest.
Chris Cuomo prepping to sue CNN for more than $18M over contract: sources
His contract was reportedly worth $6 million annually, leaving between $18 million and $20 million that he would be owed, sources said, adding that Chris Cuomo would also likely seek damages. But CNN has “no intention of paying [Chris] Cuomo a penny,” an insider said.