We covered some of the action at the Oscars last night. But I think if you were going to predict what you might see at the Oscars last night, someone taking a jab at Don Lemon would not have been on your prediction list.
But some believe that’s what Michelle Yeoh, who won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once was doing during her acceptance speech.
Michelle Yeoh drags Don Lemon in her Oscar acceptance speech
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 13, 2023
“This is proof that dreams — dream big — and dreams do come true. And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you’re ever past your prime. Never give up,” she declared.
Many reviewers and media critics believed that was a pointed retort to Don Lemon’s remark about Nikki Haley and when women are in their “prime.”
This is truly astonishing. @donlemon says Presidential candidate @NikkiHaley + that all women after 50 are past their prime. When pushed on it, he says to “google it” 🤯 Meanwhile men 80+ are running this country. @CNN pic.twitter.com/OP6YyGuw2S
— Christina Pascucci (@PascucciNews) February 16, 2023
“Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry,” Lemon told his female co-hosts on “CNN This Morning” in February. “A woman is considered to be in their prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” he continued.
Lemon got roundly criticized for his comments and he was forced to make some apologies by CNN CEO Chris Licht. Licht also announced that Lemon would undergo “formal training” and will continue to “listen and learn.”
Those comments followed other Lemon controversies where he had an on-air rant against the NY Post and the GOP. He also had two public meltdowns. In one he screamed at his co-host Kaitlan Collins and so upset her that she ran out of the studio. In the next, he flipped out at staffers because they covered him yelling at Collins in the company newsletter, according to reports. CEO Chris Licht had to tell him through producers to “cool off” after the first incident.
People from all across the political spectrum thought Yeoh was “coming for” Lemon regarding his comments about Haley and women.
“Was this a jab at @donlemon for his recent comments about women ‘being past their prime’ after their 40s?” Turning Point USA ambassador Stephanie Hamill asked her over 146,000 followers on Twitter in reaction to Yeoh’s comments.
NPR TV critic Eric Deggans was more direct, saying that Yeoh’s words were intended as “shade for Don Lemon” in a tweet Sunday.
Contributing editor for Current Affairs Briahna Joy Gray joked that she could not have predicted Yeoh’s barbs against Lemon during the Oscars. “Michelle Yeoh coming for Don Lemon was not on my #Oscar bingo card,” Gray tweeted alongside an Oscar’s trophy emoji.
Yeoh did not respond when contacted about whether or not she was referring to Lemon.
This doesn’t help Lemon at CNN when he’s even getting seemingly tossed under the bus at Hollywood’s premier event and no one is defending him. Lemon has been digging a big hole at the network, and one has to think that hole just got deeper.
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