Chapter 1: What prompted Don Lemon to speak out in this episode?
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Lemon Live at 5, except it's Lemon Live at 5 Pacific Coast time. Pacific time. Thank you so much for joining this evening on a Friday. Sorry I'm three hours late for the 5 o'clock show. But, you know, I had some things that I had to do today. But in all seriousness, I am fine. I am doing well. And I appreciate all of your love and your support.
I really do more than anything. As a matter of fact, I want to tell you guys, like... I ran into Lemonheads today. There was a gentleman who was a Lemonhead in the court. in the courtroom this evening with a Don Lemon Show hat on, you know, the light blue hat. And he made sure that I saw him and he waved. And so I have a lot of folks to thank in no particular order.
But the mayor of Los Angeles was there, Karen Bass. I think it was fantastic. By the way, I don't know anything. Like, I have not seen the news. I haven't seen anything. I did not know. I've been getting... feedback from everyone about what has happened. I had no idea that all of this turmoil was going on. I just thought it would be... I thought people would report on it, but not to this extent.
So thank you guys. And hit the like and hit the thumbs up because it does affect the algorithm. And more people become aware of our conversation and our show. And today is a really important one.
Chapter 2: How does Don Lemon reflect on his experience with the media?
And it's important for our democracy and to the Constitution of the United States and what the amendment that I believe is the bedrock of our democracy. And that is the First Amendment. freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to peaceably assemble, all of those things. This encapsulates all of that.
And I'm glad that, at least to the extent that it has, that people are realizing the critical moment that we're in in this country. that our rights are under assault. It may have started with people having their due process rights violated on the streets, violently violated on the streets. But now they're trying to silence journalists. And I will not be silenced.
And I think journalists, obviously, I think journalists should not be silenced. I think this is a time, a very critical time for journalists in this country to stand up to this tyrannical administration. And look, Journalists are going to be, I believe they can be the folks that save us. I actually believe that artists will be the people that save us as well.
And that's why I'm here in Los Angeles is to cover the artists who are exercising their freedom of expression rights and creating fantastic music. And so I'll explain to you in a moment what happened because I was actually covering, I had just been on the red carpet at the Black Music Collective.
the Grammy Black Music Collective, and we were talking about the power and the importance of representation in music and Black music. I had just seen Ketanji Brown Jackson. I just waved hello to her as she walked by. She didn't want to do an interview. I saw Pharrell and all of the wonderful artists who are contributing to what's good in this country, the very best.
So look, I have been, guys, a journalist for 30 years, if not more. I'm a man of a certain age. You know I always say, old people be knowing. And the only job or profession that is protected in the Constitution, I believe, and in the very First Amendment, is a job that I do, is a job that I have, and so many journalists around the world.
So this is a moment for journalists, I believe, around the world. And I am so grateful to everyone who who has voiced their support, who has put out statements, who has reached out to me, who has said whatever you need financially, whatever support that you need, it has been overwhelming. And I do think right now that people understand that, again, this is a very critical time.
And I hope that this continues and to support not just me, if i can be the catalyst for uh or the inspiration for people to say finally uh stand up to the powers that be in our government and also quite frankly having come from corporate media for a long time to stand up to the gatekeepers the corporations and say no I am not going to bend the knee to this administration.
I am not going to put on liars and insurrection deniers and election deniers. I'm not going to give my platform to those people. I'm not going to put people on television and give them a platform, people who come on just to lie and to offend and to insult people. It's insulting to the American people. This is not folly. It's not funny. This is not a game.
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Chapter 3: What does Don Lemon say about the importance of the First Amendment?
any sort of dictatorship, the first thing they do is they get rid of the media. They try to silence the media. Ask Turkey about that, Erdogan. Ask Iran about that. Ask any country that has lost its way, that has been overtaken by a dictator. They get rid of the press first. And so we need to start standing up. And I got to say that from what I've heard, I haven't had a chance to see it.
I've heard that my former colleagues at CNN all came out pretty unanimously, pretty strongly to support me. I understand. I believe that CNN released a statement. I've heard that CNN released a statement. Thank you very much. I have no animus for CNN. I have no animus for anyone. But I tell the truth about what I see. And I think it's time for all journalists to stand up for each other.
So I appreciate that. And look, at CNN, I worked with the best journalists in the world. So I wish them nothing but the best. But I believe those journalists as well need to stand up to the corporation. They need to tell Warner Brothers Discovery, stop playing and get your hands out of the newsroom. CBS needs to tell Paramount and David Ellison and whatever, get out of our newsroom.
Get out of our journalism. Barry Weiss, take your hands off of it. Let the journalists be the journalists. All of them. That goes for every single corporate entity that owns a journalistic organization. Let the journalists be the journalists because they are going to save our democracy if you just let them do it. The way to stand up to a bully, to a tyrant, is not to bend the knee.
It's not to acquiesce. It is to metaphorically punch them right in the nose. And you need to introduce not only Donald Trump and the folks who work for him and his administration, but the corporate overlords and the gatekeepers. You need to introduce them to the word no. All the journalists, they cannot fire you. We were always taught when I worked in corporate media that the news is a star.
That's bullshit. If the news was a star, everybody would have the same ratings. And everybody doesn't have the same ratings. The journalists are the stars.
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Chapter 4: How does Don Lemon describe the role of journalists in democracy?
The people who are delivering the news, those are the stars. And the people who do it well, do well. They get the ratings and they get the respect. So it is, and actually having come from that, now I understand that what my star quality is, that is respect. being honest and authentic and telling the truth.
And I think that's if everyone did that and they are not afraid of the powers that be, that's our motto. That's our mission. Just like a doctor, just like a lawyer. What we're supposed to do is hold the powerful to account and do no harm. And if you don't want to do harm to the American people, then stand up for democracy. Stand up for the First Amendment. So thank you so much.
CNN journalist, I love you, Dana Bash. Thank you, Jake. Thank you, Aaron Burnett. Thank you to all of the people over at CNN who I like. And thank you to the management and to, you know, who I worked with forever for putting out a statement. And thank you to the folks on MSNBC. Thank you to Scott Galloway and to everyone. I got a funny note. from Anthony Scaramucci just a moment ago.
And he said, we were on your show today, but you weren't there. You must've been busy. So I appreciate that humor, Anthony, but for so many people who have come on, look, I just want to tell you that. And also, I also want to thank all of the folks who are, um, you know, the foreign journalists, journalists who are in war zones, um, Just everyone, thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
I mean, my heart is, I am overwhelmed. I haven't had a chance to read, but a few texts from folks. I just got off the phone with my mom for the first time and she was worried and my nieces and my family in Louisiana. And look, I got to thank some people who came to my rescue and that's my husband.
who had my back and who made sure that all of this was, that it was handled properly and that my rights were not violated. I want to thank
of my dearest friends in the world and my agent who jay suarez who is there and is there and um so jay i love you thank you um and jay's wife who just cooked me lunch because i haven't eaten for a while um and i want to thank look there's so many people i i don't even know how many people um and and i don't want to leave anybody out i'm not trying to leave anybody out
My attorney, Abby Lowell, is amazing, who put out this wonderful statement for me. Alison Gollis, who's my PR person, who put out this wonderful statement and created a war room for me and a council and a board of directors, so to speak, a board of advisors for me. So thank you, Alison. And thank you, Jeff Zucker, for saying that you've never been prouder of me. High praise from you, my friend.
Thank you. And Monique, I can't thank you enough for being on the air.
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Chapter 5: What experiences does Don Lemon share from the Black Music Collective event?
I don't know how long you've been on. I heard there were so many people. I heard that was Monique, I think Charles Coleman, and just a whole host of others. Everyone who has reached out. Let me see, Tim.
um and um thank you to the social team um chris and by the way um i had just left one of my um one of the guys in the social team we had gone to the the black music music collective to do the red carpet uh to talk to people about the importance of music and the arts in this time that we're in uh and then we went to um
the spotify to see the new artists who are coming up and i was so proud of them because they are creating a space in this world and i got to talk to them and a lot of influences and a lot of young people and that's where our future is so i'm out here not just going to parties to party i'm out here interviewing people and doing the work as a journalist That's why I'm here.
I am here to do the Grammy red carpet. That's why I came. And not to be at fancy parties or whatever, but to celebrate the First Amendment, the freedom of expression. So we'll see. People have been asking me, am I still going to do the red carpet? I don't know. I'll see. I'll see. If we can celebrate and promote the First Amendment, then I'll do it. Otherwise, I'm not going to do it.
And I also want to thank my team. Last but not least, I saved the best for last. Well, not quite. I did thank my husband. But I just want to thank my team, who are just amazing. Thank you, Nikki and Peter and Andy. The best team in streaming. When we started this show, most of us, they hadn't. I think Peter and I were used to doing live because we came from cable news.
But I don't know if Andy, you can correct me if I'm wrong, and Nikki were. And we trained ourselves to do this show every single day, live, twice a day, at least five days a week, weekdays, and then sometimes on the weekends, and just to do network quality coverage. And you guys are just the best. I am so grateful and so fortunate to have you. And thank you so much.
Monique, thank you for being my friend and my... um confidant and someone i can call on and talk to when i'm in need thank you my former executive producer maria spinella who reached out so many people and then my friends my very dear friends who are um my chosen family, all the guys, and you know who you are, John and Carrie and Steve and Tarek and Darren and Darren, the two Darrens.
Who am I missing? Mario and Stefan, Robert and Gunner, Just all of you guys, thank you so much. And just dear friends and people that I haven't heard from for a long, long time. And I hope I didn't leave anybody out. But thank you so much. I'm going to go back and look at everything.
But again, a special thank you to my former colleagues at CNN, because I know that you are the best journalist in the world and that you believe in our country and this democracy. As I said in my statement, I haven't seen anything. I have not seen this. But this is a statement that I ran when I left the courthouse today. And I want to play that. And then I'll be back in a second. Here it is.
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Chapter 6: How does Don Lemon address the support he received from colleagues?
It really, it truly means the world to me.
I have no idea what's going on because obviously I haven't seen anything. I've spent my entire career covering the news.
I will not stop now. There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable. Again, I will not stop now, I will not stop ever.
Last night, the DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest me in the middle of the night. for something that I've been doing for the last 30 years, and that is covering the news. The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless of other journalists who do what I do.
I stand with all of them, and I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.
Thank you all. And I reiterate those words. I look forward to my day in court and I look forward to proving my innocence. I believe in my innocence and I believe in our right, again, to a very free and viable First Amendment. And look, just to all of the reporters who have been targeted and who have gone through this before, I support you and I thank you for your support.
Like my colleague over at the Washington Post, whose home was raided and devices were confiscated. We need to stand up for all journalists. So I stand with you and I am I humbly bow and I am grateful for all of your support.
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Chapter 7: What are Don Lemon's views on corporate influence in journalism?
OK, so I am exhausted.
i am overwhelmed um i did not get much sleep but i did get you know i did get a little sleep but not much um and by the way so i'm gonna be here so hit the like hit the thumbs up become a member support independent journalism support independent journalists support independent journalists become a member to the channel support all of the us who are out here who are trying to um
tell the truth without fear of favor and without corporate influence, okay? So thank you all, Lemonheads. I appreciate your love and your support. And as I say every single time when I log off here, okay, I want you to be informed without being inundated. Until I see you back here the next time, live here on the Don Lemon Show on the Don Lemon Channel, here's what I really want you to do.
Turn the TV off.
Thanks so much for watching everybody. Your support means the world to us.
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Chapter 8: What message does Don Lemon leave for his audience at the end?
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