Ex-CNN Host Don Lemon Slams ‘Troll’ Megyn Kelly, Praises Sean Hannity, Rachel Maddow

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon directed sharp words at his longtime rival Megyn Kelly during a Friday appearance on the The Dean Obeidallah Show on SiriusXM.

Host Dean Obeidallah asked Lemon what he thinks makes for a successful TV anchor, and Lemon used Kelly’s career as an example of someone who has fallen from grace.

“Even with Megyn Kelly, who I don’t agree with anything and who has become a troll and has proven that when she said she wasn’t racist, proving—she doubles down every single day on that,” he said. “But people listen to her for some reason and Megyn was a star. I believe that she was a star. I don’t believe she’s a star now. I don’t mean that to denigrate her, but she was a star when she was on Fox and that was where she was supposed to be.”

He added that being on the wrong “platform”—as he said he was as a morning show anchor on CNN—can hinder the success of media personalities.

Lemon however had high praise for MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Fox’s Sean Hannity and was more effusive when talking about their starpower.

“There’s a reason I feel that people watch Rachel Maddow. She’s a star and not only is she a star, but she has something to say. I want to watch people who have something to say,” Lemon said. “I don’t agree with anything, just about anything Sean Hannity says or has ever said, but he has something to say and a lot of people listen to him. Obviously, he can move the right and I just want to tune in to say, okay, let’s see. Sean’s a star. There’s no denying that.”

Kelly has been an outspoken critic of Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023 after Variety reported on his rumors of misogyny and “diva-like behavior” behind the scenes.

A week ago, Kelly called out Lemon for posting a TikTok mocking Melania Trump as she called the assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life a “horrible, distressing experience.”