Ousted CNN commentator Don Lemon raged at Piers Morgan for ‘ambushing him’ with a clip of the moment that led to his demise at the network. Lemon said he agreed to appear on Piers Morgan Uncensored to discuss censorship and cancel culture in the wake of Charlie Kirk ‘s assassination.

But instead, the commentator claims he was blindsided by his own 2023 departure from television screens. ‘Not once did you mention that we were gonna talk about CNN or whatever. And had I known that, I probably wouldn’t have accepted this interview,’ he snapped at Morgan. Morgan had aired a snippet of his disastrous 2023 spiel in which he said women who were older than 40 years old were ‘past their prime.’

The comments sparked outrage among staffers and viewers alike, and reportedly prompted both of his co-hosts, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins , to storm off set. His comments were made while discussing presidential hopeful Nikki Haley’s proposal that politicians aged 75 and up should face mental competency tests.

Speaking to Morgan about the incident, Lemon raged: ‘I thought you would stick by the subjects you told me you would talk about rather than try to ambush me with something. ‘I don’t appreciate being ambushed here.’

Morgan clarified that he hadn’t been personally in contact with Lemon, and asked if Lemon was instead referring to his producers and booking team. ‘This is completely disingenuous,’ Lemon hit back. ‘I’m not going to get into an argument with you. If you will allow me… please stop interrupting me.’

As the pair began talking over the top of one another, Lemon interjected: ‘Did you invite me here just to interrupt me?’ Morgan responded: ‘I think you’re being a complete [expletive] if I’m honest with you.’

‘Here you are getting enraged about me exercising my right to free speech to ask you a few questions,’ Morgan added. Lemon hit back: ‘I’m not enraged. I’m not enraged at all!’ Lemon has addressed his dismissal from CNN before . Just a few days after he was fired, Lemon told Extra TV at the Time 100 gala that he was ‘stunned’ to learn of his termination after being a network staple for 17 years, but doesn’t have any ‘regrets.’

‘I live my life with no regrets. I did what I did and I own it, and so no, I don’t look back and I don’t want to change things in the past,’ he told the outlet. ‘There are lots of things that come your way that are unexpected, but I’m a survivor. I come from strong, sturdy stock in Louisiana and a lot of people are rooting for me and who love me. ‘Life goes on. That’s behind me and we’ll see what happens in the future.’

He drew the ire of female viewers and his co-hosts when he said Haley, who is five years younger than him, should tread lightly on the topic of mental competancy tests for older candidates because ‘a woman is in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.’ Harlow and Collins responded with incredulity to the comment, only for Lemon to double down and insist that if viewers ‘ Google it’ they would see he was right.

Both co-anchors reportedly stormed off the set after the segment, and Lemon’s position at the network was cast into doubt as staffers and viewers alike called for his sacking. Sources inside CNN told DailyMail.com at the time females told management to pick between them and Lemon, saying ‘if Don doesn’t go, others have threatened to quit.’ ‘People are hurt by his actions and are not going to let this go. It is like every woman over 50 in America has taken this as a personal insult. The female staffers at CNN definitely have. He needs to make his vacation a permanent one,’ the source said.

Lemon was not ousted at the time however, and instead was forced to deliver an apology to staffers, saying ‘What I said came out wrong and I wish I hadn’t said it. I believe women of any age can do anything they set their minds to. The people I am closest to in this organization are women.’