Megyn Kelly blasts Don Lemon over tantrum at CNN co-host

Megyn Kelly says she would have made sure Don Lemon would be out of a job if he had reamed her out in front of colleagues as he did to his “CNN This Morning” co-anchor Kaitlan Collins.

“If somebody ever screamed at me to the point where I was visibly upset and ran out of the studio, I would have that person fired,” the former Fox News star said during her SiriusXM podcast on Friday.

Kelly said Lemon, who lost his primetime solo gig at CNN as part of an overhaul by new network boss Chris Licht, had “better be careful” since his new show “is on its last legs before it even got on its first legs.”

Lemon’s morning show, co-anchored with Collins and Poppy Harlow, has languished last in the ratings against its rivals.

Kelly praised Collins as a “competent reporter,” though she wondered whether her previous stint as a reporter for Tucker Carlson’s right-leaning news site the Daily Caller contributed to the tension with the liberal Lemon.


Megyn Kelly said she would have had Don Lemon fired if he screamed at her in front of colleagues.
Megyn Kelly said she would have had Don Lemon fired if he had screamed at her in front of colleagues.
YouTube / Megyn Kelly

In the summer of 2021, Lemon confided to friends that he “didn’t like” that Collins worked for the Daily Caller before she was hired by CNN to cover the Trump White House.

“She’s somebody I wonder whether the politics have anything to do with it,” Kelly said, adding: “You can sense the tension [between Collins and Lemon].”

“They don’t have a good rapport at all, and I don’t think CNN is interested in getting rid of her,” Kelly said of the co-hosts.

Kelly recalled her own experience as a television news anchor on Fox News Channel as well as at NBC News.

She even recalled an argument she had with then-Fox colleague Chris Wallace.

“I had a charged disagreement with Chris Wallace one time,” Kelly recalled. “We were never screaming at each other, and you pick it up right after.”


As The Post reported exclusively on Thursday, Lemon reamed out Collins in front of colleagues after the Dec. 8 broadcast of their morning show.
As The Post reported exclusively on Thursday, Lemon reamed out Collins in front of colleagues after the Dec. 8 broadcast of their morning show.
Don Lemon/Facebook

Kelly said she “co-hosted more hours than I can count with a lot of guys with big egos … and never have I screamed at a colleague or had him scream at me.”

She predicted other women who have had to co-host with Lemon will come forward with their own stories of him flashing his temper.


Lemon and Collins co-host "CNN This Morning" alongside Poppy Harlow.
Lemon and Collins co-host “CNN This Morning” alongside Poppy Harlow.
Getty Images for CNN

“I will go out on a limb right now and tell you, that’s not the first time,” Kelly said.

“There will be another woman who he’s co anchored with — I guarantee you — who’s going to come out and say, ‘Me too.’”

She added: “Because if you behave like that toward a colleague with whom you share the air and you share the show, this will not be the first time…”

As exclusively reported by The Post on Thursday, the 56-year-old Lemon confronted Collins, 30, after the show’s Dec. 8 broadcast and unleashed a tantrum, accusing her of interrupting him while on the air.


The show has struggled to gain traction in the ratings race.
The show has struggled to gain traction in the ratings race.
CNN/Twitter

“Don screamed at Kaitlan, who was visibly upset and ran out of the studio,” a source with knowledge of the situation told The Post.

CNN head honcho Chris Licht got wind of Lemon’s eruption and was said to have been appalled, sources told The Post.

Another source said Licht dispatched a producer of the show to talk to Lemon and suggested that he take a personal day to “cool off.”


Collins' past stint as a reporter for Tucker Carlson's news site The Daily Caller has reportedly irked Lemon.
Collins’ past stint as a reporter for Tucker Carlson’s news site the Daily Caller has reportedly irked Lemon.
Getty Images for CNN

A week before the Dec. 8 blowup, Lemon got into an awkward dispute with Collins and Harlow on air, arguing that the US men’s soccer team should get paid more than the women’s team despite the men’s relative lack of success at the World Cup.

The dustup made headlines, with the Daily Beast quoting Lemon saying the men were “more interesting to watch” — a comment that Lemon quickly walked back and insisted was a joke.