Staff Reports
Don Lemon has a new essay on his Substack and, surprise, it reads like an op‑ed from a man who still thinks he’s the media’s conscience. In the piece he lashes out at his old network, links the end of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show to a broader media surrender, and calls out what he calls a culture of “failing up.” It’s loud, it’s angry, and it’s predictable.
Don Lemon’s Substack: Blaming “White Men” and Rewriting History
In his Substack post, Lemon wrote what plenty of readers have come to expect: a sharp, broad swipe at media leaders. He called one executive “one of the most spectacular examples of a white man failing up,” and then declined to name him. That’s a nice trick — lob a grenade, walk away, then claim you were speaking truth to power. He’s tried this line before. Remember his on‑air “White men, are you okay?” rant that went viral? Critics point out that Lemon is married to a white man, which makes the broad brush stroke look more like a rhetorical flourish than a coherent argument.
Linking Colbert’s Exit to a “Capitulation” to President Trump
Lemon didn’t stop with personnel jabs. He tied the end of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show to what he calls a wider retreat in the press, accusing networks of capitulating to President Trump and to pressure from the right. Maybe there are real questions about late‑night ratings and network strategy. But using the Colbert moment to paint a grand narrative about media betrayal looks more like agenda shaping than careful analysis. And it’s rich coming from a commentator who left CNN after a public firing and now broadcasts on his own Substack.
Why the Left’s Rhetoric Shouldn’t Distract Us
Here’s the bottom line conservatives should remember: Lemon’s piece is theatre. It’s good drama for his audience, and it feeds the same culture wars he claims to be escaping. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real issues in media — bias, consolidation, and late‑night shifts matter. But don’t let the shouting drown out the facts. If you want to criticize media bias, do it with specifics, not broad labels and self‑serving essays. Mockery has its place, and Lemon’s critics have not been shy — some have pointed out the hypocrisy and the convenient omissions in his attack.
Don Lemon’s Substack is a soapbox, not a revelation. He can trash executives, blame “white men,” or rewrite how he sees his own exit from the industry. Conservatives should enjoy the show, call out the inconsistencies, and keep an eye on the real story: the slow erosion of trust in traditional outlets and how networks make decisions. That debate matters far more than one man’s melodramatic take.
