Twitter Reacts to Shocking Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon News

Television By TooFab Staff |
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After Lemon was "terminated" by CNN and FOX News announced Carlson's abrupt farewell, Megyn Kelly slammed The View's reaction to the latter's exit, while Twitter was flooded with celebrity reactions, jokes and quite a few "Succession" memes.

There were some major cable news shakeups Monday morning -- as it was announced, within an hour one another, that both Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon are out at their respective networks.

Carlson's exit from FOX News was the first to be announced, with FOX News Media confirming the two parties "have agreed to part ways." The statement added, "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor."

The anchor will not get to say goodbye to his "Tucker Carlson Tonight" viewers, as the network also confirmed his final episode aired Friday ... an episode which made no mention of him possibly not returning this week. The announcement comes after FOX agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle the lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which accused the network of embracing/airing outright lies about their voting machines during the 2020 election.

The news broke just as "The View" was filming its live episode Monday morning -- with the show's studio audience busting into applause, before the cohosts all did the wave to celebrate the update. Ana Navarro also led the group in singing Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," before Sunny Hostin added, "Karma doesn't lose anyone's address."

Among the celebrities reacting to Carlson's exit were Jon Stewart -- who famously sparred with Tucker when he was back at CNN -- and Henry Winkler, while conservative stars like Megyn Kelly and Randy Quaid expressed disappointment in the move.

"O M G there is a G-D," exclaimed Winkler, while Eve 6 tweeted, "Say what you will about tucker carlson but he had a great run at fox news making grandmas and grandpas scared of everything."

"Good for Tucker. Trust me, he doesn't need them," wrote Kelly. She went on to further slam "The View" for their celebratory reaction, tweeting, "Not one of these women could solo host a show and get ratings. Not one. They are & will always be ensemble players. Their jealousy is on full display here, and ideological hatred too of course."

Quaid, meanwhile, added, "Rescind your blasphemy now FOX NEWS! Top-rated Tucker and Truth bite the dust. Outrageous!"

Another pair of viral tweeted also pointed out the fact Carlson has blown through gigs at all three major news networks.

Among the other memes and jokes making the rounds were a trio of "Succession" screen grabs from the show's most recent season, poking fun at the situation.

While there were no details regarding the decision behind Carlson's exit, there are conflicting accounts when it comes to Lemon's.

He actually broke the news himself on Twitter, making it clear this is a contentious situation by writing, "I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly."

"At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play," he added. "With that said, I want to thank my colleagues and the many teams I have worked with for an incredible run. They are the most talented journalists in the business, and I wish them all the best."

The network, however, issued their own statement saying, ""Don Lemon's statement about this morning's events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter."

His exit comes shortly after he made comments about Nikki Haley, 51, claiming in a discussion with his cohosts that she wasn't "in her prime." At the time, he offended viewers by saying, "Nikki Haley is not in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s."

He later apologized after being put on a brief hiatus.

Donald Trump was clearly thrilled about the Lemon news, taking to Truth Social to post, "Good news: 'The dumbest man on television,' Don Lemon, has finally been fired from Fake News CNN. My only questions is, WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG?"

The official account for "The Daily Show" also marked the occasion by tweeting, "Don Lemon got fired doing what he loved: being wrong."

Others, including "Westworld" star Jeffrey Wright and "Star Trek: Picard's" Jeri Ryan shared their reactions to both exits on their pages ... while other memes lumping the two anchors together took off on Twitter.

According to TMZ, NewsNation is potentially interested in hiring both anchors -- but at lower rates than what they were making at both FOX and CNN.