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It takes a particular person to get dozens of people to go to church in midtown Manhattan on a weekend. Apparently, Don Lemon is that person. On Saturday, the former CNN anchor, who now hosts his own streaming show, married his longtime partner, Tim Malone, at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, surrounded by 140 relatives and random famous friends.
Among the chaotic collection of guests were Hilaria and Alec Baldwin, who is currently scheduled to stand trial on manslaughter charges in July. Also in attendance was disgraced former Today host Matt Lauer, who was fired in 2017 after accusations of sexual misconduct. Other guests included TV hosts Joy Behar and Tamron Hall, producer Clive Davis, and Luann de Lesseps from The Real Housewives of New York. Sounds like quite the open bar.
Lemon, meanwhile, was ousted from CNN last year, months after he said on-air: “When a woman is considered to be in her prime is her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.” Lemon later apologized for the sexist comments but reportedly lost support among his colleagues, some of whom told Variety that he displayed misogynistic behavior on- and off-camera over the years.
Us Weekly reports that the ceremony was officiated by Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States ambassador to the United Nations. Thomas-Greenfield wasn’t the only political figure with a wedding message for the couple: According to a video posted to Lemon’s Instagram Story, Vice-President Kamala Harris called Lemon and Malone ahead of their wedding day to let them know she was wishing them, “a marriage full of love, laughter, and good food.” Lemon and Malone began dating in 2016 — five years after Lemon came out as gay in his memoir, Transparent — and have been engaged since 2019.
Speaking to People last week, Lemon said that he wanted to have a religious wedding that would include elements of his Baptist upbringing and Malone’s Catholic background. The ceremony included an Irish blessing led by Malone’s sisters, and the couple jumped the broom as many African American couples do in honor of how enslaved people recognized their marriages. Their dogs, Boomer, Barkley, and Gu, also made an appearance. After the ceremony, the couple and their guests marched through the streets of midtown, New Orleans style, to the Polo Lounge, according to videos posted by Lesseps and other guests.
Malone told People that he and Lemon “wanted to make a public statement and we wanted to involve our loved ones,” which could explain the breadth of the guests’ backgrounds and industries. “For I don’t know what percent of our guests, on both sides, but for a lot of them it’s going to be their first gay wedding.”
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By Tariro Mzezewa , 2024-04-08 20:47:28
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