An insider says that former CNN host Don Lemon allegedly has plans to bring on Kathy Griffin for a show on New Year’s Eve. Entertainment reporter Rob Shuter says that Lemon, 59, is thinking about courting the 65-year-old comedian for the celebratory event, which would be direct competition against CNN’s own New Year’s countdown featuring Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. As a reminder, Lemon was laid off from CNN in 2023 while Griffin was replaced by Cohen in 2017 after her controversial cover involving Donald Trump.
Griffin would be “sticking it to CNN” if she accepts Lemon’s offer
According to a source speaking with Shuter on his Naughty But Nice Substack, Don Lemon, who runs his own “The Don Lemon Show” podcast, is apparently seeking Griffin “because she’s explosive, iconic, unpredictable.” Bringing her on a New Year’s show would send “a very pointed message,” particularly at CNN.
Another insider described this would-be pairing as “revenge theater” and that if she joins Lemon in “a co-host situation,” then “CNN will need oxygen masks.”
As for whether Griffin is willing and able to do this, a source close to her circle told Shuter that “she’d do it if it feels right.” That said, the source said that “sticking it to CNN would feel very right after they fired her.”
Her coming onboard would allegedly be a major win for Lemon as well. Someone close to him told Shuter, “Don believes he built the chaotic, viral champagne-soaked CNN NYE energy. Kathy coming back? That’s Don reclaiming the night.”
Shuter says that CNN is apparently “aware” and “concerned” about the potential pairing between the two and the network is “very much hoping this doesn’t happen.”
However, we should be clear that neither Lemon nor Griffin has announced anything official about a potential co-host partnership for New Year’s.
In November, Griffin said she was shocked over an email she received from Cohen, who she described as a “difficult boss” at a stand-up show in Los Angeles. She said that the email was the first she had gotten from the Bravo host in eight years and thought the email was “civil,” though it wasn’t exactly an apology.
When Griffin first heard about the email, she thought, “Hold on, girl. You emailed me for the first time in eight years after f***ing doing me dirty and taking my job [as cohost of CNN’s New Year’s Eve special] and firing me from Bravo, but OK.”
Back in 2017, Kathy had accused Cohen of drug use and being a “miserable boss” to work for. In a video, she says that he had “harassed me and treated me very poorly” and had privately asked her whether she wanted “to do blow” or “do some coke.” She continued, “People like Andy Cohen… who just live to take women down, we need to speak up about it.”
Still, Griffin admits that she wants to return to the Bravo family and that she would “maybe” repair her relationship with Cohen, saying that she doesn’t “really need to be in any more beefs.” However, if she does accept Don Lemon’s alleged offer, that would speak volumes.
The comedian has spoken candidly about her life after she was cancelled for holding a mock model of Trump’s severed head, particularly in her stand-up special entitled “My Life on the PTSD List.” She discusses her struggles with drug addiction, a divorce, a lung cancer diagnosis, and a suicide attempt. Perhaps worse of all, she lost many relationships after the controversial photoshoot.
Meanwhile in October, Lemon accused the Trump administration for hiding his cognitive decline, saying that he was “stumbling and bumbling and mumbling.”
This story originally appeared on Realitytea
