Don Lemon Allegedly Threatened CNN Co-Anchor and Destroyed Her Personal Items

CNN This Morning anchor Don Lemon’s past behavior at the network is coming under scrutiny again, following his February comments about presidential candidate Nikki Haley. A new Variety report on Lemon includes alleged details dating back to his early days on CNN’s Live From weekday show with Kyra Phillips, including allegations that he disrespected her. Lemon denied all allegations in the report.

The antipathy Lemon had towards Phillips reportedly got so bad on the Live From set that a producer had to pull Lemon aside off the air because of his “provocative” antics, sources told Variety. While Phillips was reporting from Iraq, Lemon allegedly showed his disappointment at not getting the job by tearing up pictures and notes on her desk, two sources who worked at CNN at the time told Variety. Lemon joined CNN in 2006 and began hosting Live From with Phillips in 2008.

When Phillips returned from Iraq, she began receiving threatening text messages from an unknown number. “Now you’ve crossed the line, and you’re going to pay for it,” one of the texts read. Phillips was “visibly rattled” by the messages and contacted her bosses at CNN to find out who sent them. 

They allegedly traced the messages back to Lemon and a human resources investigation began. The results were never released to the staffers who knew about it. Lemon was demoted to a weekend slot. Variety notes that this was apparently the last time Lemon was paired with a female anchor until new CNN chief Chris Licht moved him to CNN This Morning with Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow.

Phillips now works at ABC News as a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent. She declined to comment. “Don says the alleged incident never occurred and that he was never notified of any investigation. CNN cannot corroborate the alleged events from 15 years ago,” a CNN spokesperson told Variety.

Lemon denied all the allegations in Variety‘s report. “The story, which is riddled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete evidence, is entirely based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old anonymous gossip,” his spokesperson told The Wrap. “It’s amazing and disappointing that Variety would be so reckless.”

Lemon’s behavior, both past and present, has come under the magnifying glass since the Feb. 16 CNN This Morning broadcast, when he said Haley “isn’t in her prime” and that only women “in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s” could be considered in her prime. Lemon later apologized on Twitter and missed just two days on CNN, including one day he already planned to take off. Variety spoke with anonymous sources who suggested Lemon has long displayed misogynistic behavior and been disrespectful to his CNN colleagues.