CNN’s Don Lemon Defends ‘N-Word’ Sign: ‘Nothing to Be Outraged About’

 

Screen Shot 2015-06-24 at 3.18.25 PMCNN’s Don Lemon really stirred things up by holding up a sign with the n-word, uncensored, on it. Lemon was defended by some and mocked by others, so it’s clear he got people talking.

And that was the goal, he told Dr. Drew Pinsky on HLN last night.

Lemon defended displaying that word so prominently, saying while he doesn’t personally advocate use of the n-word, he feels a journalistic obligation to not dance around certain words when tackling sensitive issues.

Karamo Brown told Lemon he had a serious problem that kind of “socially irresponsible” stuff. Lemon insisted he was using it “as part of a historical record,” but Brown was incredibly skeptical.

Lemon just told him that “there was nothing to be outraged about what I did” because it’s kicking off a much-needed conversation on race issues.

Watch the full segment below, via HLN:

And you can watch the CNN segment in question here:

[image via screengrab]

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Josh Feldman is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Email him here: josh@mediaite.com Follow him on Twitter: @feldmaniac