(RoyalPatriot.com )- CNN is cracking down on its anchors drinking alcohol during its “New Year’s Eve Live” broadcast.
Reports show Chris Licht, chairman and CEO of CNN, informed colleagues during a town hall meeting that he would eliminate much of the drinking that has traditionally characterized CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast. Hosts such as Anderson Cooper will be permitted to continue drinking, while anchors and correspondents such as Don Lemon will be forbidden from doing so.
This will be Licht’s first New Year’s Eve show since he assumed control of the network in February. During the meeting, Licht reportedly told staff members that drinking on-air undermined the presenters’ credibility and respectability.
According to reports, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper has anchored the program since 2002. In 2017, Cooper’s buddy, radio and television broadcaster Andy Cohen, replaced comedian Kathy Griffin on the show. Lemon and other hosts frequently broadcast from different places across the nation.
Last year’s broadcast sparked tremendous controversy when both Lemon and Cohen engaged in drunken outbursts on air. First, Don Lemon spoke about the criticism he received to co-host Alisyn Camerota and comic Dulce Sloan.
The melodramatic Lemon said he couldn’t care less what people thought of him. He said he was a grown man, and he could care less.
Lemon then brought his race into his drunken rant.
He alleged he was a successful black man many disliked because they were not used to seeing people like him in his position.
He then remarked that being able to express his viewpoint on television terrified people. And then told the audience to kiss his ass.
Video reports show Andy Cohen fired a shot at ABC’s annual New Year’s Eve program, which was visible on CNN. Cohen called them a gang of losers.
On Twitter, users expressed dismay at the move, noting that the hosts’ inebriated antics were the sole reason they watched the program in the first place.
