Don Lemon Calls Megyn Kelly a Falling ‘Star’ While Praising Sean Hannity as Having the Goods

Don Lemon offered his blunt thoughts on fellow former cable news host Megyn Kelly while praising MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Fox News’ Sean Hannity as genuine stars.

Former CNN host Lemon joined Dean Obeidallah on The Dean Obeidallah Show on SiriusXM this week to discuss the state of corporate media and the current election. Lemon argued corporate media helped normalize former President Donald Trump and when he mostly avoids cable news today, especially the “food fights.” Some of the shows he does tune into include Maddow and Hannity.

“There’s a reason I feel that people watch Rachel Maddow. She’s a star and not only is she a star, but she has something to say. I want to watch people who have something to say. I don’t agree with anything, just about anything Sean Hannity says or has ever said, but he has something to say and a lot of people listen to him. Obviously, he can move the right and I just want to tune in to say, okay, let’s see. Sean’s a star. There’s no denying that,” Lemon said.

He went on to slam Kelly, who has been a vocal critic of Lemon, as a “troll” who was a “star” when she was on Fox News. Kelly hosts her own SiriusXM show today.

“Even with Megyn Kelly, who I don’t agree with anything and who has become a troll and has proven that when she said she wasn’t racist, proving — she doubles down every single day on that. But people listen to her for some reason and Megyn was a star. I believe that she was a star. I don’t believe she’s a star now. I don’t mean that to denigrate her, but she was a star when she was on Fox and that was where she was supposed to be,” Lemon said.

Lemon said “platform” can matter for media personalities, comparing it to being in the wrong position on a baseball team. He recalled his brief stint as a morning show host on CNN as an example of being out of place.

“You can be a star, but you also have to play in your lane. If you’re out of position then that’s going to inhibit you. You can be the best pitcher or whatever and a bad first baseman, but you’re great at the game of baseball. So I think you can be a star, but if you’re out of position then that hurts you,” Lemon said. “And just like I felt like I was out of position with the morning show. At 10 o’clock at night, that’s a perfect place for me because I have editorial freedom and I could say whatever I wanted to.”

Check out the exchange below:

DON LEMON: “There’s a reason I feel that people watch Rachel Maddow. She’s a star and not only is she a star, but she has something to say. I want to watch people who have something to say. I don’t agree with anything, just about anything Sean Hannity says or has ever said, but he has something to say and a lot of people listen to him. Obviously, he can move the right and I just want to tune in to say, okay, let’s see. Sean’s a star. There’s no denying that. Even with Megyn Kelly, who I don’t agree with anything and who has become a troll and has proven that when she said she wasn’t racist, proving — she doubles down every single day on that. But people listen to her for some reason and Megyn was a star. I believe that she was a star. I don’t believe she’s a star now. I don’t mean that to denigrate her, but she was a star when she was on Fox and that was where she was supposed to be. That’s where she was her best, and you wanted to tune in to her, so if cable news is not giving that to me, then why am I watching? People who have something to say.”

DEAN OBEIDALLAH: “But when you say someone’s a star, does it matter the platform Megyn Kelly is on? Are you saying that person is a star, like there’s a star quality?”

LEMON: “Both. Both matter. You can be a star, but you also have to play in your lane. If you’re out of position then that’s going to inhibit you. You can be the best pitcher or whatever and a bad first baseman, but you’re great at the game of baseball. So I think you can be a star, but if you’re out of position then that hurts you. And just like I felt like I was out of position with the morning show. At 10 o’clock at night, that’s a perfect place for me because I have editorial freedom and I could say whatever I wanted to, pretty much.”

Watch above via The Dean Obeidallah Show.