Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson are both ready to go to war after being fired from their on-air news gigs at CNN and Fox News, respectively. Per The Daily Beast’s Confider they have both hired “pitbull litigator” Bryan Freedman. The New York Daily News reports Freedman has a track record of getting multimillion-dollar settlements and has represented the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Julia Roberts, Mariah Carey, Gabrielle Union, and Seth Rogen. He also represented Michael Jackson’s estate in a $100 million fight against the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, which he won.
Ironically, Freedman was hired by former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo after his firing. The Cuomo lawsuit is ongoing, with him suing for $125 million.
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Both journalists had been having reported issues with their respective networks for months leading up to their departures. The announcement of their firings came on the same day, sending shockwaves throughout the media world. Tucker’s issues have been largely reported. The Daily Beast reports Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott made the call to fire Carlson. He’d been under fire for the vulgar comments he made about Sidney Powell, and pissing off Fox management due to his conspiracy-laden coverage of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, a lawsuit from his former producer Abby Grossberg alleging a sexist work environment; and his remarks about Fox brass in documents. Most notable was his deposition with Dominion lawyers. Lemon’s issues weren’t as public, but reportedly had been going on for years, and drummed up in the last year.
Weeks before his firing, Variety released a report of Lemon’s alleged toxic behavior in the workplace, which was filled with allegations of sexism, superiority, malicious texts, and romantic relationships with subordinates. The former primetime host was labeled as a diva. Lemon reportedly had outbursts at company meetings where he berated women. The report came after his controversial statement that 51-year-old Nikki Haley isn’t a viable presidential candidate because she “isn’t in her prime.” Lemon later apologized, but executives and colleagues reportedly had enough. He says he was blindsided by the firing.
