Report: Don Lemon Owed At Least $25M on CNN Contract

Fired CNN anchor Don Lemon is leaving the network with at least $25 million — but has still lawyered up for a potential legal battle with his former employer, Page Six at The NY Post has confirmed.

Lemon, the 51-year-old former co-host of “CNN This Morning,” had signed a high $7 million-a-year contract with CNN in September that runs until 2026, sources said.

Meanwhile, Lemon has hired high-powered Los Angeles entertainment attorney Bryan Freedman to secure his exit and probe whether the former anchor is entitled to a further settlement, Page Six is told.

Freedman, co-founder of the law firm Freedman & Taitelman LLP, is also representing Lemon’s former CNN colleague Chris Cuomo — who remains in arbitration with CNN and is demanding $125 million for being fired. Cuomo was canned in 2021 for advising his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, during the latter’s public scandals.

A source with knowledge of Lemon’s deal at CNN said: “Don was signed on a high seven-figure deal for the morning show last September, and is assured by CNN he will be paid the remainder of his contract, which runs until 2026.