Don Lemon has claimed that Matt Lauer could make a television comeback as “the public loves him.”
Lauer, 67, was fired from his high-profile role on the Today show in 2017 amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
In 2019, a former colleague alleged that Lauer had raped her during the 2014 Winter Olympics. Several other women also came forward with accusations. Lauer denied all allegations in an open letter published in 2019.
In a new interview on the Hollywood Raw podcast former CNN anchor Lemon, 58, revealed that he has become friends with Lauer in the years since his firing.
“I only got to know Matt after, you know, the whole situation happened and because we live in the same town and we have mutual friends,” said Lemon.
“Whenever I see Matt out and about, or, you know, even with us, if we go out to dinner, my husband and I will go out to dinner with him and his fiancé. And people love him.”
“Women love him. They’re like, ‘Matt, oh my God, can I get a picture? I love you. I miss you on television,’” Lemon added. “And so I think the public loves him.”
Lemon argued that the “public misses him” but acknowleged that “people inside the business” might be wary of receiving backlash for rehiring him.
“Maybe in this whole Trump era when, you know, [being] canceled is over, I don’t know,” suggested Lemon. “Maybe there is a way that he’ll come back. But I think it’s more of the people who are inside of the business who are concerned about what happened with Matt.”
Lemon was fired by CNN in 2023 following a 17-year stint with the network. It came after the anchor had been mired in a string of controversies – with accusations of making offensive on-air comments about women and of mistreating female coworkers off-camera. Lemon denied the allegations.
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He briefly hosted his own show on X, formerly Twitter, but left the platform in 2024 after clashing with the platform’s owner Elon Musk.
“I have loved connecting with all of you on Twitter and then on X for all of these years, but it’s time for me to leave the platform,” Lemon said at the time.
“I once believed that it was a place for honest debate and discussion, transparency and free speech, but I now feel it does not serve that purpose.”
