CNN host Don Lemon is coming under fire for journalistic ethicists for neglecting to mention his ties to actor Jussie Smollett during his cover of the actor’s trial.
Smollett was found guilty of staging a hate crime against himself— the actor claimed that he was attacked by two white men on the street wearing “Make America Great Again” hats. This attack was assumed to be a homophobic and racially motivated assault.
Smollett testified in his own defense that he had correspondence with Lemon while the early stages of the Chicago Police Department’s investigation. He mentioned his connection with Lemon, adding to his claim that he received a text from the host warning him that the Chicago Police Department did not believe Smollett’s assault happened. Instead, they suspected that the entire act was staged.
Lemon announced on air that “Jussie Smollett, the actor who is accused of lying to police about an alleged hate crime in 2019, testifying in his own defense today. At the time Smollett told police that two men had attacked him in the street yelling racist, anti-gay remarks, put a noose around his neck, and poured bleach on him.”
While addressing the situation, Lemon failed to mention the text that he sent to the actor.
The testimony proceeds CNN anchor Chris Cuomo’s termination from the network. CNN announced last week that Cuomo had been terminated from the network due to his involvement in protecting his older brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, from sexual misconduct claims.
