Lemon made the offending remark last Thursday morning during a “CNN This Morning” segment discussing Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley. After Haley called for “mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old,” Lemon remarked to his co-hosts that “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry — when a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”
“I appreciate the opportunity to be back on @CNNThisMorning today,” Lemon wrote on Wednesday morning. “To my network, my colleagues and our incredible audience — I’m sorry. I’ve heard you, I’m learning from you, and I’m committed to doing better. See you soon.”
Lemon was off the air on Friday for a previously scheduled trip, was off Monday for Presidents’ Day and then stayed off the air on Tuesday morning as well, leading some network insiders to question whether the former prime time host would ever return to the show, which only launched in November.
But Chris Licht, the chief executive of CNN, ended that speculation by telling staffers in a memo late on Monday night that Lemon would return on Wednesday morning.
Licht said that he and Lemon “had a frank and meaningful conversation” about his comments. “He has agreed to participate in formal training, as well as continuing to listen and learn,” the executive said. “We take this situation very seriously.”
Explaining his decision to allow Lemon to return to the network’s air, Licht said in a memo that “it is important to [him] that CNN balances accountability with a fostering a culture in which people can own, learn and grow from their mistakes.”
Lemon had previously has expressed remorse for his comments both on social media and directly to his colleagues. “The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it,” he wrote on Twitter on Thursday afternoon. “A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.”
At a CNN editorial meeting on Friday morning, Lemon said, “When I make a mistake, I own it. And I own this one as well.”
During a segment near the end of Wednesday’s show about companies in the United Kingdom testing a four-day work week, Lemon suggested he’s not interested. “I like working,” he said. “I love what I do.”
While the show is still new, “CNN This Morning” has struggled to gain traction with viewers. In January, the show attracted an average of 372,000 total viewers, according to Nielsen data, compared with 827,000 for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and 1.2 million viewers for “Fox & Friends” on Fox News.
