Talib Kweli, Don Lemon Settle Differences Years After Ferguson Argument

Don Lemon is the latest guest on Kweli’s “People’s Party” podcast.

In August 2014, Talib Kweli and Don Lemon had a tense interview in Ferguson, Missouri following protests over the death of Michael Brown. As late as 2015, Kweli still held some animosity towards Lemon.

“Don Lemon works for CNN,” he said, “so when I went on his program and I was critical of the way CNN covered an event I was at, instead of interviewing me to find out why I was critical, he took the position that he was going to defend CNN, even though he hadn’t read the article that I was talking about.”

Nearly six years later, Lemon joined Talib Kweli for his People’s Party podcast.

Twenty minutes into the interview, the two unpacked their on-air disagreement. Kweli explained that Anderson Cooper was originally slated to carry out the interview, but CNN replaced him with Don Lemon at the last minute.

“I feel like both of us were put in a very high-pressure situation,” Kweli said. “You, coming in to do something that Anderson was about to do. Me, not knowing anything about you. During our argument, after mentioning that you didn’t greet me before we went on air, I took offense to the statement that you invited me to the show.

With both figures contributing to the national conversation surrounding the death of George Floyd and Bronna Taylor, as well as the mass protests across the country, it’s only right they patched things up. Stream the full video below.