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Oscar-Winning Actress Michelle Yeoh Takes A Swipe At CNN’s Don Lemon’s Sexist Comment (VIDEO)

Photo of K. Walker K. WalkerMarch 13, 2023
40 4 minutes read

Michelle Yeoh’s acceptance speech when she won the Best Actress Academy Award included a not-so-subtle dig at CNN’s primetime-turned-daytime host, Don Lemon.

In her brief acceptance speech, the 60-year-old Yeoh addressed young Asian kids telling them to dream big then spoke directly to the women who were watching, “And Ladies, don’t let anyone tell you that you’re past your prime.”

The comment was likely made in reference to Don Lemon’s bizarre statement last month criticizing South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s announcement that she was throwing her hat in the ring to run for president in 2024. As part of her pitch, Haley called for mental competency tests for anyone running for office over age 75.

The 57-year-old former primetime host’s response to that was that a woman’s prime is in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. When Lemon’s female cohosts, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlin Collins queried him on the strange statement that was clearly referring to repruduction and not mental competency, he said, “that’s just what they say” and “Google it.”

Lemon later issued an apology on Twitter, but never addressed the controversial sexist comment when he returned to the show.

The obnoxious Don Lemon ignored Yeoh’s swipe while co-hosting CNN This Morning on Monday. Instead of addressing the comment, he just ignored it and moved on.

On Monday, CNN This Morning covered the Oscars by focusing on how Everything Everywhere won 7 awards, including the “Best Picture” award. Lead actors Ke Huy Quan and Yeoh both won awards for their respective performances, the latter of whom used her acceptance speech to seemingly bash Lemon over his recent comments about middle-aged women supposedly being “past their prime.”
As Nischelle Turner broke down the fanfare surrounding the film, Lemon decided to move past Yoeh’s dig to say, “this is a huge night for Asian and Asian Americans.”
“The moment that I related to the most,” said Lemon, “is when Ke Huy Quan said my 80-year-old mother is at home watching. He said, ‘Look, Mom! I won an Oscar!’ You can’t help but tear up at that moment and relate to it.”
Source: Mediaite

Yeoh’s win has been remarked on as being “historic” since she is the first Asian woman to win the Best Actress award.

Media outlets are choosing an odd way of reporting the news — that Michelle Yeoh, who was born in Malaysia, is “the first actress who identifies as Asian” instead of simply as an Asian woman. Both ET Online and NPR framed the news that way.

Michelle Yeoh is rewriting the record books, becoming the first Asian Best Actress winner in the Academy Awards’ 95-year history.
The Malaysian-born star, 60, became the first actress who identifies as Asian to win the Oscar in the Best Actress category for her multilayered performance as Evelyn Wang in the genre-bending film, Everything Everywhere All At Once. This is Yeoh’s first Oscar.
Source: Entertainment Tonight

Conservative radio host and Fox News contributor, Jason Ratz, was just one among many to blast the absurd framing.

The NPR article originally explained the reason for the way it was reported.

“The caveat ‘who identifies as Asian’ is necessary because two actresses – nominee Merle Oberon and two-time Oscar winner Vivien Leigh – hid their Asian ancestry and chose to pass as white,” stated the article.

The article has since been updated to remove any reference to the “identifies as Asian” and the context after significant online backlash.

But hey, maybe we could just celebrate a win instead of identity-politics-ing everything to death?

That’s better.

Meanwhile, Michelle Yeoh winning an Oscar at 60 and taking a jab at a guy three years younger than she is in her speech must really stick in the craw of the guy who is no longer in CNN’s primetime lineup and probably won’t be making a comeback anytime soon since CNN This Morning‘s ratings went up while he was gone.

Don Lemon’s three-day hiatus from “CNN This Morning” resulted in a 5% increase in viewership for the struggling cable news show, which was thrown into turmoil by the co-host’s sexist remarks about GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley last week.
Source: New York Post

Badass women come in all different forms. Michelle Yeon is clearly one of them.

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Sources:

1. Meyer, Ken. “Don Lemon Celebrates Oscar’s ‘Huge Night For Asians’ But Ignores Michelle Yoeh’s Apparent Acceptance Speech Jab.” Mediaite. March 13, 2023. https://www.mediaite.com/tv/don-lemon-celebrates-oscars-huge-night-for-asians-but-ignores-michelle-yoehs-apparent-acceptance-speech-jab/

2. Ng, Philiana. “Michelle Yeoh Makes History as First Asian to Win Best Actress Oscar.” Entertainment Tonight. March 12, 2023. https://www.etonline.com/michelle-yeoh-makes-history-as-first-asian-to-win-best-actress-oscar-200255

3. Ziber, Ariel. “‘CNN This Morning’ ratings rose 5 percent during Don Lemon’s absence.” New York Post. February 23, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/02/23/cnn-this-morning-ratings-rose-5-during-don-lemon-hiatus/

Photo of K. Walker K. WalkerMarch 13, 2023
40 4 minutes read
Photo of K. Walker

K. Walker

ClashDaily's Associate Editor since August 2016. Self-described political junkie, anti-Third Wave Feminist, and a nightmare to the 'intersectional' crowd. Mrs. Walker has taken a stand against 'white privilege' education in public schools. She's also an amateur Playwright, former Drama teacher, and staunch defender of the Oxford comma. Follow her humble musings on Twitter: @TheMrsKnowItAll and on Gettr @KarenWalker