*“The View’s” Sunny Hostin is speaking out about diversity in the media amid the firings of CNN’s Don Lemon and MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross.
“I’d like to see improvement with more representation,” said Hostin at a pre-White House Correspondents’ Dinner event on Friday evening, PEOPLE reports.
“I thought, you know, we were in a place where we had people and voices like Don Lemon and like Tiffany Cross. And I think we’re seeing the media go backwards a bit when you’re looking at people that have been the voice of news and addressing head-on in an unfiltered and unvarnished way, the real-life and lived experience of people of color,” she continued.
“So I’m pretty disappointed, actually, in the state of things, but I’m hopeful when you see a room like this, that there are going to be a bunch of young journalists that will be vulnerable and fearless and go after it,” Hostin added.
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Hostin went on to say she is ‘biased” due to her yearslong friendship with Lemon.
“I am biased because I’ve been his friend for 10 years. Our offices were right across the hall from each other at CNN. I vacationed with him. I know him extremely well, and it doesn’t make sense to me. It is not my experience with him. It is not the experience that I saw with other journalists,” she said.
“I was on the ground with him in Ferguson. I was on the ground with him in South Carolina for the shootings there, the church. I have covered many stories, and he has made sure to look out for me. He has made sure to give me airtime. I know for a fact when there have been allegations against some of his team members, he has spoken up and spoken out for women. So it’s unfortunate that this narrative is coming out — or is being played out — because I don’t think it’s true,” Hostin added.
Last week on Monday, CNN tweeted that Lemon and the network “parted ways,” and wrote: “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
After many assumed Lemon’s exit was an amicable decision, the journalist turned to Twitter to express shock that he was fired by the network.
“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned,” Lemon wrote. “After 17 years at CNN I would have though 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.”
CNN was quick to respond to Lemon’s statement.
“Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate,” CNN Communications tweeted on Monday (April 24). “He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”
Speaking at the TIME 100 gala on Wednesday, Lemon said he’s not bitter or angry about being fired.
“It’s not in my nature,” Lemon told Page Six at the gala. “I’m not an angry person, I’m not mad.”
“I’m a very resilient person,” he added.
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