After Paramount World acquired Warner Bros. Discovery by means of its father or mother firm Skydance Media in a landmark $110 billion deal, Don Lemon is sharing his ideas.
On Thursday, March 5, whereas on the purple carpet for the thirty seventh annual GLAAD Media Awards on the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, the 60-year-old veteran journalist mentioned the brand new deal was “not good for journalism in any respect.”
“It seems that [Paramount is] making an attempt to take a company, particularly CBS Information, that’s constructed on journalism and transfer it in a sure course politically, and that’s not what journalism is about,” he informed USA Right this moment. “Journalism is concerning the reality, and the reality has no proper or no left, it’s simply what’s.”
He added that the deal, which might imply Paramount Skydance now owns his former employer, CNN, was not his “favourite,” and mentioned he worries about what it means for journalism when a serious mainstream information platform is managed by a single company entity.
“It’s not good for journalism in any respect,” he continued. “My recommendation to them can be, let the journalists be journalists. Take your fingers off of the newsroom.”
The merger, introduced and signed on Feb. 27, combines Paramount’s current holdings — together with CBS, Paramount Photos, and Paramount+ — with Warner Bros. Discovery’s portfolio, which incorporates CNN, HBO, Warner Bros. movie studios and Discovery’s cable networks.
Talking additional, Lemon added that each one these main mergers and the billionaires they’re making richer aren’t going to “save democracy.”
“The journalists will save our democracy,” he added. “It’s not going to be cash, it’s not going to be shifting individuals to the fitting politically. That’s not going to assist something; that’s solely going to make America worse.”
Whereas on stage in the course of the awards present, Lemon additionally addressed the firing of the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem after his high-profile arrest in January whereas protecting an ICE protest inside a church in Minneapolis.
“I’m not going to say a lot, I’m not going to go off script a lot. I’m simply going to say two phrases, and also you guys can cheer if you’d like. Kristi Noem,” Lemon mentioned, drawing chants and applause from the viewers.
“Karma is a you understand what,” he added. “Let’s hope that it will get extra individuals than simply her.”
The thirty seventh annual GLAAD Awards will air on Hulu on Saturday, March 21, 2026.
