Observer » Don Lemon

Big Apple Idolatry: Homeland Star Raps, PETA Gets Honey Boo Boo’d

Drew Grant — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:53:11 -0400

Honey Boo Boo and Nugget. (Facebook)

– Jon Hamm's girlfriend is not a fan of Jon Hamm's penis getting all the attention. Also, apparently Jon Hamm doesn't wear underwear? Very cool.

– The beef between Jonah Hill and CNN anchor Don Lemon is hysterical. Mr. Lemon was so miffed that the famous TV star didn't know who he was that he tweeted about it, then Jonah tweeted back, and then Lemon went and complained about it being treated "like the help" on Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien. How professional.

– I bet you've always wanted to know what Dana's love interest on Homeland did before he was the VP's kid. Well, apparently a lot of rapping.

http://youtu.be/GszV6rvD4sI

– Lindsay Lohan is not going to do a planned interview with Barbara Walters because she doesn't want to talk about her car crash. Fine. It's not like there aren't a billion of other subjects to grill Lindsay Lohan on. It's called compromise, people!

– PETA is scared that Honey Boo Boo will eat her pet chicken, named Nugget. Maybe she can make it up to them by posing topless or something.

Anderson Cooper Joins A Growing Clique of Gay News Anchors

Daniel D'Addario — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:31:31 -0400

Per the Times, Anderson Cooper, prior to coming out today, "didn’t want to be known as ‘the gay anchor,'" thus prolonging his time in the glass closet. His decision to come out may have been expedited by the presence of many other gay anchors--Mr. Cooper is less a standard-bearer in TV news than a member of a growing club.

There's Rachel Maddow, whose rise to fame as an out lesbian came after Mr. Cooper's rise as a quiet bachelor. Other anchors to come out after Mr. Cooper became well-known included CNN's Don Lemon, HLN's Jane Velez-Mitchell, and MSNBC's Thomas Roberts. None of them are quite as well-known as Mr. Cooper, but they've generally been able to continue doing the news even despite their being gay; they're not hopelessly compromised as news reporters. By not coming out, even though it was the thing to do, say, ten years ago, Mr. Cooper looked very behind-the-times.

There's an argument to be made that an anchor of Mr. Cooper's prominence coming up today would never feel the need to stay in the closet--the changes in the American scene since Mr. Cooper's emergence in the early 2000s are epitomized in the general lack of hubbub over, say, Mr. Lemon's sexuality. Mr. Cooper's coming out is an interesting story because he had been in the closet for so long and because that closet is so transparent, but it is unlikely to change much about his career in the long term--Mr. Lemon could tell him all about that.

CNN’s Don Lemon Pens Column Regarding Media Power Bachelor Status

Foster Kamer — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:30:02 -0400

As the fallout from last week's reveal of our Media Power Bachelor and Bachelorette lists continues to unfold—and then some—we took note of one of the more famous names to publicly acknowledge having made our list, the openly gay and supposedly taken CNN anchor Don Lemon. In a column penned for CNN's website today, Mr. Lemon clears up any misconceptions one might have about his marital status (or his inclusion on the list).

Titled "A New Marriage Dilemma," Mr. Lemon—who's won praise both as a news anchor and as a prominent figurehead for openly gay broadcast journalists (especially with regards to his memoir, Transparent)—tackles the question facing many gay couples as individual states' marriage laws continue to be amended: Is it time to get hitched?

After an encounter with a New York Magazine reporter asking about his current "status" that left him ever-so-slightly irritated ("it didn't go well," he notes), it was likely going to take a little more to draw his personal notions about the nature of signed and sealed commitment into sharp focus. Enter a certain Media Power List:

Honestly, I hadn't pondered marriage since I came to terms with my sexuality almost two decades ago. But it really hit home for me when to my and my boyfriend's surprise The New York Observer named me a 2011 media power bachelor, and I got the news in an e-mail that my colleague Joy Behar had tied the knot with her long-time boyfriend, Steve Janowitz. While the power bachelor thing was fun, the Joy thing got me thinking.

Nevertheless, it was obviously the "fun" power bachelor thing that helped him draw an important conclusion, emphasis ours:

...Just as I did when I came out publicly this summer, I'll get ahead of all those "fishing" for an answer about my marriage plans. While I respect the gay couples who have or are planning on tying the knot soon, the truth is, just like straight people, not all gay people want to or should get married.

But perhaps the best answer and the one closest to my own comes from a personal quote on the website IMDB from another confirmed bachelor, Leonardo DiCaprio: "People always like to make up stories. I am not planning on getting married. Then again, I might wake up tomorrow and decide to get married!" Thanks Leo.

With great (media) power comes great responsibility; in continuing to exercise the virtue of transparency, Mr. Lemon more than transcends the superfluous superlative any list could anoint him with (though, should he choose to get hitched, we obviously already have a contingency plan in place).

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek