Patricia Heaton Has Incredible Response to Don Lemon

UPDATE Feb 20, 2023 10:55 AM CST

Don Lemon was absent again from CNN This Morning on Monday amid controversy over his slam last week of Nikki Haley. Lemon hasn't appeared on the show since Thursday, the day he said the 51-year-old Haley was no longer "in her prime," per the AP. Only women in their 20s, 30s, or possibly their 40s qualify, he said. Co-host Poppy Harlow didn't shed much light on Lemon's absence Monday, saying only, "Don has the day off."

Feb 20, 2023 1:30 AM CST

CNN host Don Lemon may have apologized for saying a 50-something woman isn't "in her prime," but actress Patricia Heaton aims to ensure he fully realizes his wrong. She took to Twitter on Friday encouraging women to list their accomplishments "in these glorious later years" and got the ball rolling. The 64-year-old Everyone Loves Raymond alum described writing and starring in the CBS sitcom Carol's Second Act, starring in ABC sitcom The Middle, creating the Emmy-winning Food Network show Patricia Heaton Parties, founding World Vision's Celebrity Ambassador program, seeing four sons graduate college, and more, per USA Today and Fox News. It might sound like the cue for a mic drop, but the preaching wasn't done.

Hundreds of women chimed in using the hashtag #primetime, including New York Times bestselling author Alison Levine, who prided herself for having been on the first official expedition to summit Nepal's Mount Khang Karpo in 2016 and having "a craft beer named after me." Jody Vance, cohost of Steele and Vance of Canada's CHEK News, discussed creating her show with fellow broadcaster Lynda Steele—"owned by us," she noted—while Martha Zoller, host of WDUN's The Martha Zoller Show, described starting a podcast, chairing a charitable organization, and working for "successful Governor and Senate races." Lisa Bloom jumped on, describing running "one of the biggest and most effective civil rights law firms in the country" at 61. "This is what #primetime in a woman’s life looks like," she wrote. (Lemon also got chided by CNN boss Chris Licht.)