Confider #93: The Don Lemon Comeback Begins

EXCLUSIVE — LEMON’S ‘X’-RATED COMEBACK: Former CNN star Don Lemon may return to your screen very soon—albeit not the cable-news ones he’s used to. The famously outspoken news anchor is attempting to mount a comeback, Confider has learned, and is in talks to host a program on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Lemon confirmed the news on Tuesday afternoon. Read the full Confider scoop here.

EXCLUSIVE — DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER: While The Messenger faces an existential crisis, the “nonpartisan” news site’s staffers finally got a chance to hear firsthand from management. Last week’s series of hastily arranged Zoom sit-downs—which were announced on The Messenger’s Slack last Wednesday by PR chief Kimberly Bernhardt amid employee outrage over reports that the company’s board weighed killing the site—featured owner Jimmy Finkelstein and Editor-in-Chief Dan Wakeford directly discussing concerns. For many of the outlet’s staffers, who’ve long demanded Wakeford hold a town hall, this was the first time they’d ever engaged with the boss. Two staffers told Confider they were unaware of Wakeford’s British accent until they finally heard him speak during last week’s meetings. However, according to one insider with knowledge of the matter, a key reason Wakeford hadn’t spoken to the rank-and-file in recent months is that Finkelstein barred him from communicating directly with staff outside his daily editorial meetings with top deputies. “Dan is deeply involved at all levels in helping build this hugely successful brand and has always been available to his team 24/7,” a Messenger spokesperson wrote to Confider. “He is creating a regular communications program with the editorial team.”

During last week’s chats, as first reported by Semafor, Finkelstein attempted to blame The Daily Beast and other outlets for his site’s financial woes, claiming he had potential investors lined up until media reporters damaged his fundraising and reputation, causing at least one advertiser to try to pull out. Finkelstein also admitted that he must quickly raise money over the next few weeks, otherwise the site could go out of business, confirming Confider’s reporting that The Messenger was on “life support.” Since then, we’ve learned, several C-suite execs have exited: Chief Activation Officer Dana Miller and Chief Brand Officer Mark Ingall were furloughed, while Head of Entertainment Mary Margaret is gone. “We don't comment on personnel,” the spokesperson wrote.

Read more at The Daily Beast.