Don Lemon Was Called out for ‘Misogyny’ in Tense Exchange

Don Lemon touched a nerve with his opinions on pay disparity. On a recent edition of CNN This Morning, he debated with co-hosts Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow about the fairness of equal pay between men and women soccer athletes. Lemon questioned whether the U.S. Women’s National Team should earn more money in 2022 if the men’s team reaches the knockout stage than when they won their own tournaments in 2015 and 2019. “I know everyone’s gonna hate me,” Lemon began. “But the men’s team makes more money. If they make more money, then they should get more money. The men’s team makes more money because people are more interested in the men!” A tense discussion ensued as Collins and Harlow quickly countered Lemon’s comment. “Until big media companies, Big Tech companies, advertisers, invest and put them on their airwaves more and allow people to see it more and gain more fans,” Harlow argued. “Then you will push towards more equality. But if they are blocked in so many ways and not invested in as much, they don’t even have a chance.”

“I’m not sexist,” Lemon stated. “When I go to a sports bar – guys, am I wrong? You guys don’t want to say anything,” Lemon added, realizing he was on his own. “When I go to a sports bar if there’s a women’s basketball game on…people will say, ‘can you flip it to the guys?’ I don’t want to watch this…you can not make people become interested in something they’re not interested in.” The USWNT and the U.S. Soccer Federation reached a settlement earlier this year over equal pay. As a result, all World Cup earnings will be split equally between men’s and women’s national teams. FIFA, which allocates and distributes World Cup payouts, will pay out a total of $440 million to 32 teams for the 2022 World Cup, compared to $30 million to the women’s teams in the 2019 tournament. Although soccer is an exception since the USWNT has historically been more successful than the United States men’s national team (USMNT), most men’s sports are more popular than women’s. 

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Despite their current popularity, men’s sports had a leg up in the first place. The NBA was founded 50 years before the WNBA, and today, women’s sports are the fastest-growing in terms of T.V. audiences. There is a growing demand for mainstream coverage of women’s sports and equal pay, citing that promoting it will lead to greater participation. After expressing his seemingly unscripted opinion, Lemon remained steadfast on the topic as he continued debating Collins and Harlow for 10 more minutes. Lemon’s somewhat controversial viewpoint of women’s sports came just before he and Collins clashed in an awkward moment on CNN This Morning last week, a trend viewers are noticing. Several clips have been posted online from the Thursday morning episode, where Lemon tried to read through a story about Brittney Griner while Collins kept interrupting him. It resulted in both hosts talking over each other and fans disagreeing about who was at fault. Lemon would call out of work the following Friday after the exchange, which according to a report by Puck News, rattled some staffers behind the scenes at CNN.