Don Lemon believes disgraced ex-NBC host can make a comeback

Former CNN host Don Lemon believes the public “misses” disgraced ex-host of the “Today” show, Matt Lauer.

Lemon discussed Lauer’s seeming popularity during remarks on the “Hollywood Raw” podcast this week, contending that he could make a television comeback despite the 2017 sexual allegation scandal that led to his ouster.

“If he could come back to digital, he can set his own course,” Lemon told hosts Dax Holt and Adam Glyn when asked about Lauer returning to the air after his fall from grace.

“I only got to know Matt after, you know, the whole situation happened, because we live in the same town and we have mutual friends,” Lemon added, referring to Lauer’s firing after allegations of “inappropriate sexual behavior” while he co-hosted the morning show. Lauer denied the accusations but said in a statement at the time, “Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed.”

“Whenever I see Matt out and about — or you know, if we go out to dinner, my husband and I go out to dinner with him and his fiancée — and people love him,” Lemon said.

“Women love him! They’re like, ‘Man, oh my God, can I get a picture? I love you. I miss you on television.’ I think the public loves him. The public misses him, but it’s the people inside the business who are afraid,” he contended.

He wondered if “maybe in this whole Trump era where canceled is over,” the door would be open for Lauer to make a comeback.

“It’s more the people who are inside of the business who are concerned about, you know, what happened with Matt. I’ll put it this way. I think the general public would accept Matt back. And I think people would watch him and I think the ratings would be great,” the ex-CNN host said.

“I don’t know anything about what happened, I know nothing about that at all,” Lemon added. “Women can feel the way that they feel and I understand that but that’s their business. I know when I’m out with him, everybody loves Matt, and everybody flocks to Matt and everyone wants a picture and everyone says ‘I miss you and we wanna see you back on television.’ I hear it every time.”

“There are certain people who are on television where you feel like, well, ‘That’s exactly what they should be doing,'” he said.

Lemon was let go from his CNN post in 2023 soon after a bombshell report in Variety about alleged sexist behavior toward female colleagues at the network.

Frieda Powers

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