A heated television interview between Piers Morgan and former CNN host Don Lemon descended into a shouting match on Thursday, September 19, 2025, after Morgan called Lemon a “complete d***” during a discussion about cancel culture on “Piers Morgan Uncensored.”
The interview began civilly, with both men discussing free speech in America and reactions to the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. However, tensions escalated when Morgan asked whether Lemon felt he was a victim of cancel culture following his departure from CNN in April 2023.
Lemon initially responded that he probably was a victim of cancel culture. Morgan then played a controversial clip from February 2023 showing Lemon being criticized by female colleagues after he made comments about former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, stating that Haley was not in her prime and that women are considered to be in their prime in their twenties, thirties, and maybe forties.
The former CNN anchor became visibly upset after the clip played, claiming that Morgan had ambushed him. Lemon argued that when he agreed to the interview, Morgan had told him they would discuss freedom of speech in America and the response to Kirk’s death, but never mentioned discussing CNN or his firing.
Lemon expressed that he would not have accepted the interview had he known his departure from CNN would be used as an example of cancel culture. He accused Morgan of being disingenuous and not sticking to the agreed-upon topics for their discussion.
Morgan defended his line of questioning, pointing out that Lemon had brought up the subject of cancel culture himself before being asked whether his CNN departure was an example of it. The host argued that he was simply following up on a topic Lemon had introduced.
The exchange deteriorated rapidly as both men began shouting over each other. Morgan expressed his frustration by telling Lemon, “What are you talking about?! I think you’re being a complete d***, if I’m honest with you.”
Lemon responded sarcastically to the insult, noting the unkind and disrespectful nature of Morgan’s comment. Morgan replied that his remark was not intended to be kind or respectful. Lemon indicated that he could respond in kind but chose not to, claiming he was above such behavior.
The confrontation continued with Morgan questioning why Lemon was playing the victim card when he himself had mentioned cancel culture. Lemon accused Morgan of seeking viral moments and being an disrespectful journalist, while Morgan fired back that he would not take lectures on journalistic respectability from Lemon.
Despite the heated exchange, both men eventually moved on to discuss other topics including Charlie Kirk and gun laws, though the atmosphere remained tense throughout the remainder of the interview. Both continued exchanging barbs with each other even after attempting to return to their original discussion topics.
Following the interview but before its broadcast, Morgan took to social media platform X to express his continued bewilderment about Lemon’s behavior. He wrote that he still did not understand what had happened to make Lemon behave in such a manner during their conversation.
Morgan later posted additional comments on social media, claiming that Lemon was going “absolutely berserk” about him on Instagram and suggesting that Lemon was panicking about how he would appear in the interview. He described Lemon as appearing whiny, touchy, and arrogant in their conversation.
Lemon responded on Instagram, expressing disappointment that they could not have had a productive conversation. He criticized Morgan for diving into what he characterized as garbage and suggested that Morgan was only seeking clickbait moments. Lemon indicated he should have known better than to expect a substantive discussion.
The controversial interview represents another difficult week for Lemon, who had recently experienced a tense street confrontation in New York City where a man called him a “f***ing moron” during what was supposed to be a man-on-the-street interview for his podcast.
Lemon’s departure from CNN in 2023 came two months after his controversial remarks about Haley during a broadcast. The comments, which suggested that women are past their prime after their forties, led to his suspension and eventual termination from the network after 17 years.