*CNN is facing calls to fire Don Lemon after Jussie Smollett testified that the CNN anchor warned him via a text message that Chicago police didn’t believe he was the victim of a hate crime.
We previously reported that the case is all about Smollett being accused of lying to police about being the victim of an attack in Jan. 2019. At the time, Smollett said that two men yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him, kicked him, poured bleach on him, put a noose around his neck, and told him, “This is MAGA country.”
Smollett originally told police he was attacked by two white supremacists. He later claimed he was attacked by Nigerian brothers Olabinjo and Abimbola “Abel” Osundairo.
As reported by SandraRose.com, the “Empire” star said that when officers arrived at his apartment to take his statement following the attack, he declined to hand over his cell phone to investigators because Don Lemon sent him a text message saying Chicago police didn’t believe his story.
READ MORE: Jussie Smollett Takes Stand and Testifies as Witness in His Own Defense
Here’s more from Newsweek:
At the time that the attack allegations first came to light, Lemon informed viewers that the story was of “personal” significance to him as he and the actor were acquaintances. He also shared that he had been in regular contact with Smollett. However, while Lemon stated that Smollett is “innocent until proven guilty,” he added that the actor and musician will have “squandered the good will of a whole lot of people” if it transpired that his account was untrue.
“He even lied to a lot of people… including me. And that’s not cool,” Lemon had said, per Fox News. “He squandered the good will of very high-profile people who one day may be running this country like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker and people like President Trump.”
Don Lemon has not yet publicly addressed Smollett’s claims. Meanwhile, folks across social media are calling for CNN to fire him just like the network canned Chris Cuomo.
“After Jussie Smollett’s testimony that Don Lemon tipped him off to the Chicago PD not believing his story… he should be the next to get tanked from CNN,” wrote comedian and author Tim Young.
“At 10-to-midnight,@DonLemon and @OmarJimenez finally discuss the Jussie Smollett trial,” wrote Nicholas Fondacaro of the Media Research Center. “But neither ‘journalist’ mentioned how Smollett testified under oath that Lemon tipped him off to police skepticism of his hoax claims. The whole segment lasted 5 minutes and 7 seconds.”
Christian conservative writer Carmine Sabia said: “Jussie Smollett has admitted that CNN anchor Don Lemon warned him that police were suspicious of his story. CNN does not have journalists. It has activists. Time for @DonLemon to follow @ChrisCuomo.”
Smollett testified this week that after news of his hate-crime attack made headlines, he lost his livelihood due to the bad publicity.
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