Don Lemon's New Memoir Sets the Record Straight: 'The Stuff They Were Reading About Me Wasn't True' (Exclusive)

"I wanted to make sure that the people who had supported me the most, which is women, especially Black women, knew that I had their backs," the author says

Don Lemon’s phone is filled with supportive texts from the women in his life – one of which reads, "The women of America love everything Don."

Lemon spoke with PEOPLE in an exclusive phone conversation ahead of the release of his new memoir, I Once Was Lost, out Tuesday, Sept. 10, which takes readers through his religious upbringing in the deep South and his rise to acclaim as a television journalist. He also gets into controversial moments from his career, including his sudden ousting from CNN after 17 years in 2023, his comments about whether Nikki Hayley was "in her prime," and his on-camera squabble with conservative pundit Vivek Ramaswamy.

Lemon, 58, said women were at the forefront of his mind while writing, and that he feels "good" about the book's release.

"It is actually getting out before the election, when it was supposed to happen after the election. The publishing house read it and said, 'Okay, people should read this.' So, yeah, I'm a little bit nervous, but it always pays off,” he says of the book.

In February 2023, Lemon came under fire for comments he made about Republican politician Hayley on CNN This Morning after she suggested that politicians over the age of 75 should have to take mental competency tests. "She says ... politicians are not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn't in her prime. Sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” he said during an on-air segment.

"That's not according to me," he added, in an attempt to clarify. "If you Google 'When is a woman in her prime,' it'll say 20s, 30s and 40s. I don't necessarily — I'm not saying I agree with that."

Media outlets quickly ran headlines accusing him of misogyny and sexism, and then shortly after, Variety published a report detailing allegations of his misbehavior toward female colleagues — which Lemon has denied and called baseless.

He looked back on the Hayley incident ahead of the release of his streaming show The Don Lemon Show in March in an interview with PEOPLE, during which he said, "My comments were misconstrued and that's it. I've explained it. I apologized for it."

And in his book, he writes, "Here’s where I’m supposed to walk it back, I guess. Throw a bone. Offer a performative apology. I can’t do that. In 2018, I was fine going into the lion’s den for what I believe. In 2023, I got dragged for something I did not say and don’t believe, and it sucked.”

Now, Lemon tells PEOPLE, "All of these women who have held me in their bosom and comforted me and have always had my back … I wanted to make sure that they understood that I love them and that all the stuff that they were reading about me was not true. I wasn't some anti-woman thing. The exact opposite, as a matter of fact."

The author adds that he has always had close relationships with the women in his life. "I wanted to make sure that the people who had supported me the most, which is women, especially Black women, knew that I had their backs," he says.

I Once Was Lost is a follow-up to Lemon’s previous book This Is the Fire, in which he discusses the history of racism in the U.S. and his own experiences as a Black man. In his new release, he uses his faith as a guiding point to tell his story.

"I wrote this book because my love for this country, my love of God and my faith in God," he says. "It really propelled me to becoming the person that I am. I also wanted to fight back against the voices in the Evangelical religious doctrines that sought to marginalize me and to marginalize people like me," he says, referencing the LGBTQ+ community, minorities and other underserved groups.

While writing his book, Lemon thought of Black heroes and authors, specifically James Baldwin and Bayard Rustin, and the important work they did. "They tell the truth, they're open, they’re vulnerable and that's why I did what I did. That's why I wrote it and I thought about those guys. What would they do? What would John Lewis do? And that's what I did," he says.

When Lemon learned his time was up at CNN, he found himself at a crossroads. The author writes in his book that he did not know what was next for him, so he decided to take a break from the spotlight. He says the experience of revisiting difficult moments from his past "sort of perfectly sums up how we have to keep digging and digging and digging until we come to true."

"How was it? It was tough. I mean, it's been tough, like over the past year and a half or so, sitting with myself and going back all the way to my childhood, to not necessarily figure out who I am today, but to sort of reconcile the child that I once was to the adult I am, and I think everyone goes through that process, which is a very difficult sort of therapeutic process," he says.

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Several passages in the book are dedicated to Lemon’s relationship with his partner Tim Malone, whom he married in April of this year. Days before the book was set to release, he tells us that they do not have plans for a party to celebrate, though Tim wants to.

"I'm always like, I don't want to be too out there and be pretentious or too showy. And he's like, 'You have to celebrate your successes,'" Lemon says. "He is my biggest fan and my biggest supporter, and he carries all my grudges because I don't."

All that is left in the process of releasing this book is getting the seal of approval from his family. "I love my mom, my sister and my family," he says. "I hope they're proud when they read it because they are featured throughout the book. They are central characters."

I Once Was Lost by Don Lemon is available now, wherever books are sold.

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Read the original article on People.