Don Lemon says Matt Lauer could make comeback despite sexual misconduct allegations

Don Lemon isn't counting out Matt Lauer, the controversial TV personality whose sexual misconduct scandal resulted in his ousting from the "Today" show amid the growing #MeToo movement.

The former CNN anchor reflected on his friendship with Lauer during an interview on the "Hollywood Raw" podcast Wednesday.

"I only got to know Matt after, you know, the whole situation happened, because we live in the same town and we have mutual friends," Lemon said. "Whenever I see Matt out and about — or you know, if we go out to dinner, my husband and I go out to dinner with him and his fiancée — and people love him."

He added: "Women love him! They’re like, 'Man, oh my God, can I get a picture? I love you. I miss you on television.' I think the public loves him. The public misses him, but it's the people inside the business who are afraid."

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Lauer, who co-anchored "Today" for a 20-year tenure, was fired from the NBC morning talk show in November 2017 due to a complaint of "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace."

Shortly after Lauer's termination, Variety published the results of a two-month investigation focusing on three women who identified themselves as victims of sexual harassment by Lauer. According to the outlet, "work and sex were intertwined" for Lauer, who allegedly developed a pattern of inviting women to his hotel room while covering the Olympics over the years, as well as to his secluded office within 30 Rockefeller Center.

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Regarding the sexual misconduct allegations brought against Lauer, Lemon told "Hollywood Raw" hosts Dax Holt and Adam Glyn: "I don't know anything about what happened."

"Women can feel the way that they feel, and I understand that but that's their business," Lemon continued. "I know when I'm out with him, everybody loves Matt and everybody flocks to Matt, and everyone wants a picture and everyone says, 'I miss you, and we want to see you back on television.'"

When asked about the possibility of Lauer making a comeback, Lemon mused the TV personality "can set his own course" in the world of digital news, adding that cancel culture is "over" following the election of President Donald Trump.

"It's more the people who are inside of the business who are concerned about, you know, what happened with Matt," Lemon said. "I think the general public would accept Matt back. And I think people would watch him, and I think the ratings would be great."

Don Lemon, Matt Lauer and the future of cancel culture

Lemon hosted "Don Lemon Tonight" for nearly a decade on CNN from 2014-2022. The news personality was fired from the network in April 2023 following his headline-making comments on former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who he said was not "in her prime" due to her age, as well as accusations of inappropriate behavior toward female colleagues detailed in a Variety report.

Lemon attempted a comeback with the launch of his own media company and a short-lived partnership with Elon Musk's social media platform X. He has since sued Musk following the cancellation of that partnership.

The phrase "cancel culture" has been traced back to the 1980s, in a song by the band Chic. Lyrics reference a breakup and being "canceled" as something that would happen to people in a relationship, Ange-Marie Hancock, executive director of the Kirwan Institute at Ohio State University, previously told USA TODAY.

Don Lemon interview: Journalist's life after CNN and what it says about cancel culture

A part of Black culture, the phrase grew to symbolize a particular kind of accountability. Social media's rise and a constantly changing barometer for acceptable behavior and language have inspired more "canceling" than ever before, with public figures subjected to "cancellation" based on past mistakes or actions ranging from accusations of bullying, misogyny, racism and more.

Despite how often people discuss "cancel culture," many have evaded cancellation, including artists like Chris Brown, who has been accused of violence against women on numerous occasions.

"You can always reinvent yourself," Lemon told USA TODAY in a September 2024 interview. "That's really the beauty of America, and as long as you just not hang on to the past, or not hang on to whatever mistake you feel that you've made, or even whether you think whatever's happened to you is warranted or not, that there's always room for reinvention, and there's always room for reciprocity."

Contributing: Cara Kelly, Erin Jensen, Morgan Hines and David Oliver, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Don Lemon talks Matt Lauer comeback, says public 'misses' former host