CNN anchor Don Lemon is worried about whether his network is a ‘boys’ club’, as recently suggested by outgoing colleague Brooke Baldwin.
Last week, Baldwin expressed grievances about her employer apparently choosing men over women in positions of authority.
“The most influential anchors on our network, the highest paid, are men. My bosses, my executives, are men. The person who oversees CNN Dayside is a man, and my executive producer for ten years is a man. So “I’m surrounded by a lot of men,” Baldwin told the Ms Magazine podcast.
CNN is indeed the only major cable news network in America without a female prime-time host, and many of the network’s strong executives are men. Baldwin said she sees the landscape change as more women appear on cable news, but noted that she mostly worked with men during her career.
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“I was surrounded by a lot of guys,” she said.
Lemon was asked about Baldwin’s comments during an interview shared on the New York Times’ “Sway” podcast on Thursday.
“Do you see this as a problem?” asked journalist Kara Swisher.
“Well, a few things,” Lemon replied. “I do not know the salary of everyone. So I can not say that it is a boys’ club. I just got there.”
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“You’re not going to come up with the ‘I just got there’ thing,” Swisher told the anchor, who has been with CNN since 2006. ‘Should a woman run the network? And how can you not circle – you know, women are just second-class citizens in the CNN universe. ‘
“Well, I think we had women running the network,” Lemon said. “I mean, [former Vice President of Programming] Janelle Rodriguez managed part of the network. My EP [executive producer] is a woman … And Erin Burnett’s executive producer, showrunner, is a woman. So we have a lot of women in the positions of power in the network.
‘Now, in the executive ranks, I do not know enough about the organization chart to tell you this. But listen, my CMO [chief marketing officer] is a woman, Allison Gollust, and she has a huge influence on the network. So should the network be run by a woman? Of course a very qualified woman. “I would like to see a woman run the network,” the CNN anchor continued.
It seems that Lemon suggests that Baldwin could get more involved with CNN President Jeff Zucker, who invited Lemon to lunch.
“I mean, she can do the same,” Lemon said before laughing.
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The anchor of “CNN Tonight” conceded that there is room for improvement when it comes to representing both women and “coloreds” at the network.
“I think [we’re] offline. I do not really see it as a boys ‘club,’ Lemon added.
Baldwin announced in February that she would be leaving CNN after 13 years. Her exit was predicted last fall after she sent cryptic Instagram messages suggesting she be forced off the air after the network announced that Jake Tapper would take over her time frame ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
“As the election approaches, the political maestro @jaketapper will keep my hour and his for the coming weeks. Wish I was with you, but I see you further [TV] on the other side of the election, ‘Baldwin wrote in October.
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A fan asked, “Why are you taking so many weeks off at such an important time?”
“Not my choice,” Baldwin replied.
Brian Flood of Fox News contributed to this report.