News anchor Don Lemon apologized to fellow CNN staffers Friday morning, a day after his comments on “CNN This Morning” about Nikki Haley’s age sparked a social media firestorm.
On Thursday, the veteran journalist criticized the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations over her recent statements on age and mental capacity.
The 56-year-old news host outraged social media users after saying the 51-year-old presidential candidate wasn’t “in her prime,” and that “according to Google,” women are considered to be “in their prime” when they are in their “20s, 30s, and maybe 40s.”
Lemon was immediately called out by his two stunned co-hosts, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. He later acknowledged on Twitter that the remarks were “inartful and irrelevant” and he regretted saying them.
The Emmy-wining host didn’t appear on Friday’s show due to a pre-scheduled day off, while Harlow was reporting from Salt Lake City, where she is covering the NBA All-Star weekend.
A CNN spokesperson skirted questions from The Daily News about whether the network plans to address the issue. However, early on Friday, Lemon reportedly apologized to his colleagues during a morning editorial call.
“I’m sorry I don’t mean to hurt anyone. I did not mean to offend anyone,” Lemon said on the call, according to The Daily Beast.
“What I said came out wrong and I wish I hadn’t said it. I believe women of any age can do anything they set their minds to. The people I am closest to in this organization are women,” he added.
CNN’s chairman and CEO, Chris Licht, also addressed Lemon’s comments during the editorial call.
“His remarks were upsetting, unacceptable and unfair to his co-hosts, and ultimately a huge distraction to the great work of this organization,” Licht reportedly said.
With both Lemon and Harlow out on Friday, Collins shared hosting duties with CNN correspondent and former co-host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” Audie Cornish. The programming shuffle had been announced by the three hosts on Thursday.
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Lemon is expected to be back at work on Monday, the Daily News has learned.