A street interview with Don Lemon is going viral online after a woman of color challenged the former CNN anchor during a conversation about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The exchange was posted on Lemon’s YouTube show and spread quickly across social media platforms.
The clip begins with Lemon asking the woman what she thought about the death of Kirk, who was shot and killed on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University.
Highlights
- A woman of color defended Charlie Kirk in a viral Don Lemon street interview, calling him a good man despite his controversial views.
- Charlie Kirk made several statements against women, Black people, and feminism, fueling ongoing debates about his legacy.
- Don Lemon, dismissed from CNN in 2023, continues controversial on-air segments and faced backlash during interviews on his YouTube show.
Ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon’s street interview about Charlie Kirk went viral
Image credits: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
The woman responded by saying the attack was “messed up” and that “nobody deserved that.”
She added, “He definitely didn’t deserve that. He was a good guy.”
Lemon pushed back, asking, “You think he was a good guy?” The woman responded, “I think he was.”
“All of us have flaws,” she continued. “Everybody’s having a human experience. Why knock him for having this human experience or what he believed in?”
Lemon followed up, asking the woman if she feels this way despite Kirk’s statements often being anti-women or anti-black people.
“I can’t judge him for that,” the woman responded, shocking Lemon. “But I can use judgment. He didn’t deserve that,” she said.
At one point, Lemon remarked that she sounded “left.” She quickly corrected him, saying she was not speaking from a political position but from her values.
“I’m humanity- and love-first,” she said.
The conversation ended with Lemon saying, “Hey, that’s how you feel. It’s nice to see,” before moving on.
The video spread quickly on X, TikTok, and YouTube, drawing praise for the woman’s poise and criticism of Lemon’s questioning.
Social media posts called Lemon a “liar” and a “grifter” and accused him of lying about Kirk being anti-women or anti-black.
Image credits: Trent Nelson/Getty Images
However, many of Kirk’s previous statements have alluded to these ideas. Kirk called the concept of white privilege a “myth” and a “racist idea” in 2018.
In 2023, he said black people in cities were “prowling” to target white people, and in 2024, on the Charlie Kirk Show, he said, “If I see a black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified,” while discussing his anti-DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives.
Kirk has also made gendered remarks. In an August 26 episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, right after Taylor Swift’s engagement to Travis Kelce, Kirk told Swift to “Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You’re not in charge.”
Kirk endorsed anti-abortion and anti-feminist ideals
He has also supported the idea of not allowing an abortion for girls, even in the case of an underage girl being raped.
The viral moment adds to the controversy surrounding Lemon’s post-CNN career.
Lemon was dismissed from the network in April 2023 after a string of on-air controversies, including saying that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, was not “in her prime.”
CNN said at the time it had “parted ways” with the anchor after 17 years.
Since then, Lemon has launched The Don Lemon Show on YouTube, where he mixes interviews, commentary, and man-on-the-street segments. While his new platform has attracted attention, it has also sparked tense interactions.
Earlier this month, during one of Lemon’s segments, a person called him “full of s**t” and a “moron.” The man also called MSNBC and CNN “full of s**t.”
Lemon responded, “Thank you. So are you.”
Lemon also faced criticism for Thursday’s episode of The Don Lemon Show with comedian D.L. Hughley, where he largely stayed silent as Hughley described Kirk as a “horrible human being.”
“He said horribly incendiary things … the very last words he spoke were basically putting the onus of gun violence on gangs, which is synonymous with black people. The very way he died was lying about black people with his last breath,” Hughley said.
Right before being shot, Kirk was asked: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
Kirk replied: “Counting or not counting gang violence?”
In a recent episode of Lemon’s show, D.L. Hughley called Kirk a ‘horrible human being’
Earlier this month, Lemon asked people to be skeptical of the White House’s claims about U.S. President Donald Trump’s health.
“I think that he is sicker than the administration is letting on... and by evidence only: history is the evidence,” Lemon told The Daily Beast podcast host Joanna Coles.
Lemon discussed the White House’s handling of when Trump and the first lady had COVID-19.
“When Donald Trump walked out of the White House to walk to Marine One and then go on to the hospital, he looked terrible, but he was sicker than we knew, and no one told us about it,” Lemon said.
He noted how, after testing positive, Trump was treated at Walter Reed, where his physician, Dr. Sean Conley, didn’t disclose that Trump received supplemental oxygen.
Conley and then chief of staff Mark Meadows also issued conflicting statements, and the White House avoided clarifying when Trump last tested negative.
Lemon said this led him to believe officials were not being fully transparent about the latest health concerns relating to Trump’s swollen ankles and bruised hands, which the White House has attributed to frequent handshaking.
The White House has also confirmed that Trump has chronic venous insufficiency, a condition where veins struggle to return blood from the legs to the heart.
Earlier this year, Lemon’s ex-CNN colleague, Chris Cuomo, told Patrick Bet David in a podcast interview that their then-boss, Jeff Zucker, had ordered him to stick around after his prime-time slot “to help mitigate whatever’s going to come out of [Lemon’s] mouth.”
Chris Cuomo claimed his on-air ‘bromance’ with Don Lemon was fake
Image credits: CNN
He claimed their years-long “bromance” and popular on-air banter during the handoff between their two prime-time slots was fake. Lemon has denied these claims.
The latest video comes amid a heated national debate following Kirk’s assassination.
The killing has divided public reaction. While many political figures and right-wing supporters have mourned Kirk’s death, some left-wing online activists have mocked and celebrated it.