Michelle Yeoh Seemingly Shades Don Lemon During Best Actress Oscar Acceptance Speech
Drawing Attention
Michelle Yeoh, "Ladies, don't let anyone tell you you are ever past your prime."
Just a little reminder for@donlemon about women past their "prime". pic.twitter.com/t5cbgu21GR
— AskAubry 🦝 (@ask_aubry) March 14, 2023
Whether Yeoh was calling out Lemon or not, many fans were. Several people tagged Lemon and CNN in tweets about Yeoh's speech, making the connection explicit.
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🎯
— MissFedUp🖤🇺🇸🏳️🌈 (@Lulubobcat1) March 13, 2023
Many viewers thought that the connection to Lemon's comment was tenuous at best. They assumed that Yeoh was being more general than that.
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Great acceptance speech and I cheered when she threw shade on @donlemon
— Jim Kendall (@KendallCRE) March 13, 2023
CNN leaves out Michelle Yeoh's 'prime' jab at Don Lemon as anchor praises Asians winning big at the Oscars https://t.co/IueJpEtDEK
— Joseph A. Wulfsohn (@JosephWulfsohn) March 14, 2023
While some news outlets covered the perceived connection to Lemon, viewers noted that CNN did not draw that connection when it reported on Yeoh's historic victory.
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Anyone woman at any age in her life is in her prime! #womanarefierce #MichelleYeoh #oscars
— C Emerson (@CEmersonTrio) March 13, 2023
Of course, many viewers simply enjoyed Yeoh's victory at face value and took the inspiration exactly as she said in her speech, without reading between the lines.
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He caught a stray? Haha
— I'm Not A Sailor I Just Cuss A lot (@haitianross83) March 13, 2023
No. I seriously doubt she was thinking of Don Lemon on one of the most important nights of her life. Hollywood is notorious for setting ridiculous expiration dates on women's careers. She's proof it's all nonsense.
Women from all walks of life regularly face age discrimination.
— it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life.. (@Anewluemerges) March 13, 2023
Of all the conversations the Oscars could have started, many fans were surprised that it brought the Lemon argument back around.
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"michelle yeoh took a dig at don lemon" i'm sorry michelle yeoh doesn't have any reason to know or care about don lemon be serious
— victoria edel (@victoriaedel) March 13, 2023
I didn't even know who Don Lemon is (and BTW, is that even a real name?!)
— Vera Mark (she/her) (@VeraMark2010) March 14, 2023
When I heard Michelle Yeoh nix the "past your prime" BS, I just thought: "YES, and thank you for saying it (and showing it) so clearly!"#MichelleYeoh #Oscars2023 https://t.co/sxZWd4PPkr
Some fans felt that it would be beneath Yeoh to make a comment about Lemon during one of the most triumphant moments of her life. They felt certain she was referring to the misogyny in Hollywood more generally.
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Don lemon shaking in his boots after that comment from Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh
— nick (@ognickyt) March 13, 2023
Whether Yeoh was referring to Lemon or not, fans speculated that Lemon must be feeling the heat once again as viewers interpreted it that way. So far the anchor has not said anything about Yeoh's speech or the social media fallout that followed.
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