Don Lemon Disputes Brooke Baldwin’s Suggestion That CNN is a Boys Club: ‘Plenty of Women in Positions of Power’

Don Lemon disputed fellow CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin’s claim that the network essentially runs as a boys club — telling the New York Times’ Kara Swisher that there are “plenty of women in positions of power.”

On her podcast Sway, Swisher asked if Jeff Zucker, the President of CNN — who plans to leave the network at the end of the year — saved CNN, adding, “I mean, many people think so.”

“Yes, he did. He did save CNN,” Lemon replied. “And I mean everything I said when — I don’t know who else could run it. I’m sure someone will come along and they will run it and they will do a great job. And we’ll get along well or maybe we won’t, who knows. But in this moment, I have to be honest, I think the best thing to happen to CNN in a — besides Ted Turner — was Jeff Zucker.”

Lemon went on to praise Zucker, commending him for listening, understanding the news, loving his fans, and having the back of each person on air.

“Interesting,” Swisher replied. “So who should replace him? Maybe a woman? Because Brooke Baldwin, one of your fellow anchors who’s leaving CNN this month essentially said that the network is a boys’ club.”

Swisher reminded Lemon that he also pointed out that the most influential and highest-paid anchors on CNN are male, while the network has no women anchoring prime-time slots. “Do you see that as an issue?” Swisher pressed.

“Well, a couple of things. I don’t know everybody else’s salary,” he said. “So I can’t say that it’s a — and it’s a boys’ club. I just got there.”

Swisher was unimpressed by Lemon’s attempt at dodging the question, clarifying that he was not going to use the “I just got there thing” to get out of answering, and asked again if “women are just second-class citizens in the CNN universe.”

Lemon proceeded to dispute Baldwin’s claim by naming a handful of women in executive producer positions at CNN, as well as a few others who hold “huge influence on the network”

“Well, I think we have had women who have run the network. I mean, Janelle Rodriguez ran part of the network. My E.P. is a woman. Anderson’s [Cooper] is not, it’s Charlie [Moore] . And Erin Burnett’s executive producer, showrunner, is a woman. So we have plenty of women in positions of power in the network,” he said. “Now at the executive ranks, I don’t know enough about the organizational chart to tell you that. But listen, my C.M.O. is a woman, Allison Gollust, and she is a huge influence on the network. So should the network be run by a woman? Of course, a very qualified woman. I would love to see a woman run the network.”

Swisher pushed back a bit after confirming that Lemon does not view CNN as a “boys’ club,” saying, “You’re having lunch with Zucker, I’m guessing she’s not.”

“Well, I don’t know who — I mean I actually called him up and said, would you like to have lunch?” Lemon said. “I mean, she can do the same thing.”