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Don Lemon

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  • Peabody Award-Winning Journalist
  • Host of the wildly popular Don Lemon Show
  • Veteran CNN Correspondent and Anchor (2006–2023); Former NBC Correspondent
  • Author of #1 NYT Bestseller 'This Is the Fire' and Bestsellers 'I Was Once Lost' & 'Transparent'

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Don Lemon is a decorated journalist whose voice has shaped national conversation for more than three decades. A longtime CNN anchor and now the host of The Don Lemon Show, Lemon has covered war abroad, presidential transitions, mass shootings, and moments of racial reckoning where words carried consequence and silence was not neutral. With multiple Emmy Awards, bestselling books, a Peabody Award, and a historic role as the first openly gay Black man to anchor a national news program, Lemon’s career stands apart in American media. His magnetic on-air style has drawn audiences in without softening the stakes of the conversation.

As a speaker, Lemon brings the perspective of someone who understands how power, media, and public pressure actually operate. Drawing on experience from the center of breaking news and cultural conflict, he speaks about communicating clearly when narratives harden and scrutiny intensifies, and when silence is itself a decision. Audiences leave with a clearer understanding of how authority is held, how credibility is protected, and what it takes to speak plainly when the spotlight is unforgiving.

 

Don Lemon headshot
Past Hosts Include:
  • Reuters - Future of News
  • Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation
  • The Root 100
  • MGM Studios - Nickel Boys panel
  • Essence Fest
  • Commencement for Clark Atlanta
  • Tulane Book Festival
  • Black Week
  • Spotify - Politics Event
  • Congressional Black Caucus
Blackweek Forum: Telling the Truth in an Age of Misinformation | Don Lemon - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Don Lemon
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Power, Media, and Who Controls the Moment

Veteran news anchor DON LEMON breaks down how power actually moves through media and public conversation. He explains how stories take hold, why some voices define the moment, and what leaders misunderstand about influence when attention moves faster than facts. ...

Veteran news anchor DON LEMON breaks down how power actually moves through media and public conversation. He explains how stories take hold, why some voices define the moment, and what leaders misunderstand about influence when attention moves faster than facts.

Saying the Hard Thing in Public

From national tragedy to cultural reckoning, DON LEMON has operated where speaking plainly carries risk. He explores how leaders communicate honestly without inflaming the moment, how credibility is built when trust is thin, and why avoiding the truth often creates more damage than confronting it. ...

From national tragedy to cultural reckoning, DON LEMON has operated where speaking plainly carries risk. He explores how leaders communicate honestly without inflaming the moment, how credibility is built when trust is thin, and why avoiding the truth often creates more damage than confronting it.

News in Perspective: Inside the Decisions Behind the Headlines

Seasoned news anchor DON LEMON takes audiences inside how journalists decide what leads, what waits, and what never makes air. Drawing from years in the anchor chair and in the field, he explains how judgment, timing, and responsibility shape coverage long before a story reaches the public. ...

Seasoned news anchor DON LEMON takes audiences inside how journalists decide what leads, what waits, and what never makes air. Drawing from years in the anchor chair and in the field, he explains how judgment, timing, and responsibility shape coverage long before a story reaches the public.

 

Moderation Under Pressure

As a moderator, DON LEMON brings steadiness and authority to conversations where tension is already present. He knows how to frame difficult questions, manage competing perspectives, and keep dialogue productive without losing rigor. His moderation style creates space for honesty while holding the r ...

As a moderator, DON LEMON brings steadiness and authority to conversations where tension is already present. He knows how to frame difficult questions, manage competing perspectives, and keep dialogue productive without losing rigor. His moderation style creates space for honesty while holding the room to account.

Podcast  Instagram  X  YouTube 
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Books by Don Lemon
I Once Was Lost: My Search for God in America

I Once Was Lost: My Search for God in America

This Is the Fire

This Is the Fire

Transparent

Transparent

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Biography

Don Lemon is the host of The Don Lemon Show, streaming live daily on YouTube and everywhere podcasts are available. With three decades of award-winning journalism and storytelling behind him, Lemon has taken his signature style and outspoken truth- telling to a new platform, welcoming a variety of guests and newsmakers to his show, with topics spanning everything from social issues and race to pop-culture and current events. His shows also often feature his personal take on the stories and topics that are shaping lives and conversations.

Lemon has spent his entire career as a journalist and is the former anchor of the long-running CNN primetime program, Don Lemon Tonight as well as CNN This Morning. He has won a variety of distinguished awards for his work which has spanned nearly three decades, including an Edward R. Murrow award, multiple Emmys and a Peabody award, among others. In addition to CNN, Lemon has served as an anchor and correspondent at the NBC and MSNBC television networks, as well as at local stations in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis.

Lemon has covered countless global breaking news stories from the anchor desk, as well as on location, including the war in Ukraine (for which he received a Peabody award in 2022), the death of Osama Bin Laden, the inaugurations of the 44th and 45th Presidents of the United States, the school shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Newtown, Connecticut, and the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, George Floyd and Tyre Nichols. He joined CNN as a correspondent in 2006.

Lemon has been honored with countless awards not only for his journalism, but also for the impact his work and influence have made on society. He was voted one of the "150 most influential African Americans" by Ebony magazine in 2009. In 2014, The Advocate included him as one of the publication's "50 Most Influential LGBTQ People in Media." In December 2016, Lemon was honored with a Native Son Award, named after James Baldwin, recognizing and to “encourage the increased visibility and impact of black gay men in society.” In 2017, Out named him to its Power 50 list of the "Most Influential LGBTQ People in the USA." And in June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, New York, Queerty named him one of the Pride 50 "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people.”

Lemon is also a bestselling author. In 2011, he broke barriers by revealing that he was gay in his auto-biographical book Transparent. A decade later, in 2021, his book This is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism, debuted at number one on the New York Times bestsellers list. 

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