Fans were shocked when Don Lemon was fired from CNN last month, but
some may not have heard that he got a job offer that very same day. After
Lemon's explosive announcement, rapper Rick Ross began making posts on his
Instagram Story offering Lemon a job at one of his WingStop restaurants.
Ross was obviously making a joke, though it was a bit hard to tell if he was
mocking Lemon, CNN, or both.
Lemon made a post on Twitter last month saying that he had been
fired from CNN with little warning or explanation, sparking a wave of
speculation about what was going on behind the scenes at the network. Ross
responded shortly after with his first post on Instagram, saying: Damn, Don.
But guess what? A brother's got your back. We hiring at WingStop, and for
some reason, I believe you know what you doing with the lemon pepper wings.
So man, just send over your résumé. I'm gonna make sure I get you in front
of the right grill, brother. Stay solid, brother."
Rick Ross offering Don lemon a job at wing stop after he got fired from CNN has me in tears!!! 🤣💀🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/LrtOYS7YEG
— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) April 25, 2023
Ross kept coming back to Lemon's predicament in subsequent
videos. In the next one, he said: "Just came up with a wonderful idea –
well, really, Don, you helped me come up with this. I need to hit the team
over at Rapstar Energy Drink and let 'em know we should introduce the Don
Lemon flavor. What y'all think? Aye, Don, we got you brother!"
In
another video on Tuesday, Ross broadened his offer a bit while asking for a
response even more urgently. He said: "Right now I got an APB out on Don
Lemon... Don Lemon, I know you want to talk to the people – talk to the
streets – and let us know what's really going on. Since everybody getting
fired, I'm considering, at exclusive locations, firing the pepper on the
wing, and just make it the 'Don Lemon wing.' I need a worldwide response for
this. Let us know what's going on, Don. I got a huge platform coming up.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you could come sit down with the boss."
Ross bought into the WingStop fast-casual chain in 2017 and now
owns several locations around the U.S. It's hard to say how he connected
that venture to Lemon aside from the word association between Lemon's name
and the lemon-pepper wings. It's also hard to tell of Ross was mocking
Lemon, mocking CNN, or both. Commenters were clearly amused by the idea of
Lemon collaborating with Ross in any way.
Lemon announced his own
termination from CNN, and the network confirmed it an a statement a few
minutes later. The network disputed Lemon's claim that he was fired without
warning or explanation, although it did not publicly explain why he was let
go. Lemon had hosted the primetime evening news for many years, but last
fall he moved to the newly rebranded morning show CNN This Morning. Lemon
has not commented on Ross' offer or what might be next for him.
