Charlamagne Walks Off CNN Streaming Show At Bedtime

Charlamagne tha God Walks Off Set

Charlamagne Tha God abruptly exited CNN’s subscriber-only election night “Livecast” after just 60 minutes Tuesday, citing the need for sleep ahead of his morning Breakfast Club radio show—leaving a high-profile panel that included Ben Shapiro, Kara Swisher, and Ana Kasparian mid-discussion.

The iHeartMedia radio host, whose real name is Lenard Larry McKelvey, walked off the two-hour special—streamed exclusively on CNN’s new All Access platform launched last week—prompting Senior CNN Analyst Harry Enten to explain: “He has to get up early to host his radio show.”

Before departing, Charlamagne clashed with Enten over downplaying Donald Trump’s influence, retorting: “Why do people act like Trump is gone by the wayside? He’s got all the power right now—like, literally, he’s got DC in a chokehold.” 

He dismissed Democratic impeachment threats as “performative,” saying, “No more impeachments. We’ve done all of this already.”

The exit came as Enten likened Trump to “a puppy who lost his way” amid Democratic gains, a characterization Charlamagne rejected as inconsistent with warnings of “fascism” and “authoritarian rule.”

On his Breakfast Club show Wednesday morning, Charlamagne criticized CNN’s Van Jones for calling Zohran Mamdani’s NYC mayoral victory speech “too aggressive”—continuing a pattern of on-air pushback against mainstream media figures, including MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, whom he recently accused of claiming he “helped push MAGA messaging” during the 2024 cycle.