CNN news anchor, Don Lemon announced his engagement to longtime boyfriend, Tim Malone with a heartwarming post shared over the weekend.
Lemon, the host of CNN Tonight, shared with fans and followers on Saturday that his real estate agent boyfriend, Malone not only proposed to him on Malone’s birthday in Manhattan, but also made the moment a very romantic one for the couple.
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“He gave me a present on his birthday. How could I say no?” Lemon captioned two photos of dog collars that read “Daddy Will You Marry Papa?” around the necks of their pets Boomer and Barkley.
Malone later shared the same photo on his Instagram Story, writing: “He said Yes!” With Lemon reposting the image, alongside a caption, “He put a ring on it.”
Lemon’s news friends from CNN and major U.S. publications reveled in the news with, Kate Bolduan congratulating the couple, writing, “Mazel!” While her CNN reporter, Kaitlin Collins just wrote, “AHHHH” alongside a heart-eyes emoji.
New York Times reporter, Nicholas Kristof wrote, “Congrats to both! Way to go!”
“Congrats! I’m so happy for you. This is great news,” Wolf Blitzer of The Situation Room wrote.
Lemon and Malone have been dating since the summer of 2016, and memorably rang in 2018 with an on-air kiss shared during the New Year’s Eve broadcast on CNN. Lemon told his New Year’s Eve co-host at the time, Brooke Baldwin that he had finally “found love” before breaking out into an impromptu ditty.
Social media and fans of Lemon might recall that during the 2017 New Year’s Eve celebrations, Lemon told Baldwin that he had finally met someone, adding how the two met in New York. “[But] I don’t care where you meet. If you’re happy you’re happy.”
Lemon first came out in 2011 with his memoir, Transparent, which chronicles the anchor’s life and the sexual abuse he endured as a child by his mother’s close friend. While writing the memoir was cathartic for Lemon, it also led him to the admission of being homosexual.
“I cannot write a book about my life and not talk about what I had been for the past 44 years – I was 44 at the time – and a big part of that is being gay,” Lemon said, according to NPR.
In an interview with the Times for promotion of his book, Lemon said he thinks it would be great if “everybody could be out,” but that his was a personal choice.
“People have to do it at their own speed. I respect that. I do have to say that the more people who come out, the better it is for everyone,” he continued. “I think if I had seen more people like me who are out and proud, it wouldn’t have taken me 45 years to say it, to walk in the truth.”
Photo credit: Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
