Don Lemon Tells Megyn Kelly ‘Go F--- Yourself’ After Her Comments About Joy Reid’s MSNBC Exit

Don Lemon is turning Megyn Kelly’s own words back on her. 

The former CNN anchor spoke out on his YouTube show on Monday, Feb. 24, reacting to the conservative pundit’s vocal response to the news that MSNBC anchor Joy Reid and her show The ReidOut would be leaving the network. 

“Remember when Joy Reid laughingly mocked ‘White women tears’ as pathetic and offensive to her? Who’s crying now, Joy?” Kelly wrote on X after the news broke. “Good riddance to the absolute worst person on television, and shame on NBC for letting it go on this long.”

Lemon took to his show shortly after, making his thoughts on Kelly and her comments clear. After playing a clip of Kelly using the same phrasing, Lemon said, “So let me just say to Megyn Kelly, in my 30-some years as a journalist and my 50-some years as a person of color: Go f--- yourself. Okay?” 

While sipping tea from a Megyn Kelly Today mug in an apparent reference to Kelly’s short-lived time on the Today show, Lemon shared examples of what he deemed Kelly’s offensive behavior. 

“The worst person from television was fired from NBC and the Today show a few years ago, and that was Megyn Kelly,” Lemon, who was also fired from CNN in 2023, said.

Kelly’s talk show Megyn Kelly Today started in late 2017 and was canceled in 2018 due to comments she made defending White people dressing in blackface for Halloween. 

“I usually don’t like to talk about her because she’s one of those people, she thrives on it,” Lemon added of Kelly. “She has built the second part of her career on being a troll.” 

Kelly began her career as a political journalist in 2003. She went on to work at Fox News where she had her own show, The Kelly File. After her firing from NBC in 2019, Kelly created her own SiriusXM podcast The Megyn Kelly Show. 

“I was actually friendly with Megyn Kelly,” Lemon claimed. “I gave her her first opportunity to be on that network in primetime.”

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Following the news that she and her show would be leaving MSNBC on Monday, Reid spoke out in her own Townhall clip, tearfully saying, “My show had value. What I was doing had value. I try not to cry on TV, and this is kind of like me on TV, so I apologize.”

However, Kelly was not moved, reposting the clip on X and writing, “Joy Reid has viciously mocked the tears of every White person she’s helped cancel over the years for some imaginary racial slight. She’s had zero empathy for anyone. Now she wants us to feel sorry for her. WE DON’T.”

Kelly doubled down on the Monday episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, kicking off the show, saying, “Single tear, White woman tears happening right here, Joy. She was officially fired over the weekend because she’s a racist, horrible news anchor with no ratings.”

The news of Reid’s exit broke shortly after NBC shared that longtime anchor Lester Holt would be leaving after 10 years hosting the NBC Nightly News.