CNN to offer Don Lemon’s former co-host Kaitlan Collins primetime slot: report
CNN plans to offer former chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins the primetime 9 p.m. time🐲slot and a new contract, a report said Wednes🐈day.
Collins — a former co-hꦦost with Don Lemon and a favorite of CNN CEO Chris Licht — could find herself in the role as soon as next week, according to a
The report came just hours before Collins was set to moderate a 90-minute town hall event with former President Donald Trump in New Hampshire as Trump seeks🌄 the GOP nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
The event, which is expected to be widely watched nationwide, will thrust the impressive 31-year-old CNN “It girl” into the spotlight, according to Puck News.
“Kaitlan’s offer is not contingent on her performance at tonight’s town hall, but, given the Trump X-factor, those 90 minutes have the potential to modify, accelerate, or stifle the arc of her career,” Puck News’ Dylan Byers .
“At the very least, her performance tonight will set the tone for a new Collins era at CNN, which, barring any f–k-ups, will run at least through the 2024 presidential election.”
She most recently anchored the 9 p.m. news hour last month.
At that time, a source close 🌼to Collins denied to The Post that the move was a “trial run” to permanently helm the 9 p.m. show.
Howev♊er, another insider said, “Anything is possible.”
“I think it’s fair🌊 to say Chris Licht and leadership have been impressed,” a source close to n﷽etwork boss Licht said of the rising star, who had served as CNN’s youngest chief White House correspondent.
“She’s his favorite,” added another source, who🉐 said Collins has quickly become CNN’s “It girl,” much to the frustration of some network veterans including the since-fired Lemon.
Lemon notoriously screamed at Collins in December after he claimed she interrupted him during a tense broadcast of “CNN This Morning.”
The incident rattled staff a🌞nd upset higher-ups, including Li✃cht, who was reportedly appalled at Lemon’s behavior.
A Lemon confidant told The Post that he “didn’t like” the fact that Collins had worked for the conservative website the Daily Caller before joining CNN in 2017.
Lemon was fired last month after 17 years at the network following a nu🍸mber of scandals, including accusations of sexism.
If Collins accepts the offer, she would fill t𝔉he role previously held by Chris Cu🦄omo.
Cuomo was fired by the struggling cable news outfit in late 2021 after it was learned that he was helping his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, fight sexual harassment allegations made by ex-aides.
