NEW YORK — Don Lemon says he was sexually harassed more than once by female co-workers when he worked at CNN.

In a new interview, the former CNN anchor detailed two incidents he alleges occurred during his near 20-year tenure with the cable news network.

“I have been harassed by women and men in the [workplace]. It’s ridiculous,” he told Bill Maher on this week’s episode of the “Club Random” podcast. “There are some things that are really egregious, but not everything is Harvey Weinstein level.”

Lemon, who identifies as gay, worked for CNN from 2006 until he was fired in 2023 after a series of on-camera controversies.

He continued: “I remember when I was in Atlanta and I was in the cafeteria [at CNN]. … This young lady tweaked my nipples and said, ‘Oh, it’s cold in here.’ I said, ‘OK, you realize that if I did that they’d be walking me out the door right now?’”

The Emmy Award winner said he opted not to report the incident to human resources because he didn’t think it was worth it.”I didn’t say anything, because it’s a double standard.”

Lemon, 59, also revealed that on another occasion another female coworker propositioned him when he slept over at her house after a work event. The unidentified woman offered him a stay in her guest room since a taxi service and Ubers were not available at the time.

“I never told this story. Someone who I worked with also harassed me at CNN and I never went to management,” the ex “CNN This Morning” host said. “First of all, I was so new there. She knew I was gay. It was just bizarre. She was going through a divorce. It was weird.”

He added: “I never went to management. First of all, I thought, ‘OK, they may find a way to get rid of me because if I told this story, I don’t know if they’re gonna believe me or not … But then she was so mean to me after that, I was like, ‘I should have told the story.’”

Lemon told Maher that being molested as a child had prepared him for such advances later in life.

“You know how to deal with it and you know what’s important or not, and you know who has the power,” he shared. “As a man I have the power to say, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ I don’t need to go to HR and ruin your career. I just tell you, ‘I’m not interested, miss. We were drunk. We had a couple of drinks or whatever. Let’s let it go.’”

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