CNN's Don Lemon has been having a really rough time lately, and it basically has been his own doing. Last week he caught some major backlash after insinuating to Joan Tarshis, one of Bill Cosby's rape accusers, that she could have bit him to prevent the alleged assault. Now his reporting from Ferguson, Missouri, has also come under fire.
Shortly after it was announced that Darren Wilson would not be indicted for fatally shooting 18-year-old Michael Brown, CNN's reporters were taking turns updating viewers at home on what was unfolding in front of them. Lemon and Anderson Cooper were discussing the chaos, and Lemon said that protestors were jumping on cars and he heard gunshots off in the distance. Then after a pause, Lemon followed up that assessment with:
"Obviously, there's a smell of marijuana in the air."
That detail was not obvious to anyone else, it seemed, as the rest of CNN's crew was too busy running for cover from tear gas and smoke bombs to notice any potential pot in the air. Once again, Twitter lit up with backlash against Lemon because he just cannot seem to keep from making insensitive comments on live television.
Some wondered if he would face any kind of suspension after the messy interview with Tarshis, but Lemon simply offered an on-air apology to anyone whom he had offended and attempted to move on. Since Lemon seems to be having a really hard time in not coming across as an insensitive news reader, at what point should CNN finally step in and formally take some sort of action?
Should Lemon be suspended, at the least, or would you rather see him not on the network at all?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
