“Don Lemon is a lightning rod because he really came to prominence during an era where that was celebrated and encouraged in primetime,” Licht said on stage at a media summit while Lemon was in the audience. “That was CNN’s primetime. That is not CNN’s primetime. The world has moved on from that. Don has moved on from that.”

“Don was the first one to go ‘I’m tired of having to set my hair on fire every night, I want to try something new,’” Licht continued. “So the Don Lemon who’s in Memphis getting that incredible reporting is the Don Lemon we have in the morning, not the one who was in primetime, and we both agree that that’s the Don Lemon we want.”

[So what about the abusive behavior reported on the morning-show set and Lemon’s idiotic comments about women? I guess Licht has a *new* new version of Lemon since then. One has to wonder how many times Licht and CNN plan to repackage this dolt. — Ed]