Don Lemon and CNN have reportedly reached an agreement since his ousting last year.
The former CNN anchor and the news network reached a separation deal that would pay Lemon approximately $24.5 million, reports TheWrap.
The total is reportedly the amount of money Lemon, 57, was set to receive if his final contract ended in 3 and a half years.
Representatives for Lemon had no comment when reached by PEOPLE on Monday.
“While we never comment on specifics of any employee contract, this story is incorrect,” a CNN representative tells PEOPLE on Tuesday.
After 17 years with CNN, the longtime anchor announced his firing from the network in an X (formerly known as Twitter) post in April 2023. “I was informed this morning by my agent I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned,” Lemon wrote.
Shortly after Lemon’s post, CNN’s public relations team released a counter statement, accusing Lemon of misrepresenting what occurred.
“Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate,” CNN Communications tweeted. “He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”
The journalist’s separation from the network followed his exit from CNN This Morning. In February 2023, Lemon received backlash for comments he made about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being “past her prime.”
He made his remarks on the politician’s age during a segment on the show with co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.
After the Haley comment, Lemon publicly apologized, “agreed to participate in formal training” and was back on air after less than a week.
Two months later, Lemon conducted a confrontational interview with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, which was rumoured to have left “several CNN leaders exasperated” and contributed to the channel’s decision to let him go.
