LEMON: “I have been harassed by women and men in the work, and some things are not — it’s ridiculous. Now, look — “
MAHER: “Tell us. I’m very interested — no, no, I’m interested in it.”
LEMON: “There are some things that are really egregious, right, but not everything is Harvey Weinstein level.”
MAHER: “No. That’s rape.”
LEMON: “And then some of the — right, that’s a whole different, so I’m not talking about that. And I’m not saying it makes it right. But I remember when I was in Atlanta and I was in the cafeteria commissary, whatever — “
MAHER: “At CNN?”
LEMON: “At CNN. And this woman, young lady, tweaked my nipples and said, ‘Oh, it’s cold in here.’ And I said, ‘Okay, you realize if I did that, they’d be walking me out the door right now?’ But I didn’t — I didn’t care to go to H.R., I didn’t say anything because I was just like,it’s a double standard eight and say is a double standards.”
MAHER: “Good for you. ‘Cause who gives a — “
LEMON: “And also, but I never told this story as well, someone who I worked with also harassed me at CNN and I didn’t — I never want to management. First of all — “
MAHER: “A man or a woman?”
LEMON: “A woman. And she knew I was gay. And it was just bizarre. She was going through a divorce. It was just weird. And I never went to management. First of all, I thought like, okay, they may find a way to get rid of me because if I told the story, I don’t know if they’re gonna believe me or not. But then she was so mean to me after that, I was like, I should have told the story. But yeah, I’ve been harassed by men and women.”
MAHER: “But what — what constituted this harassment? Like, what did she — physically, like in the office, like, ‘Come in and twirl for me, Don?’”
LEMON: “It wasn’t a ‘Twirl for me,’ but — it was not — it was not in the office, but, yeah, I won’t go on into that part.”
MAHER: “So you had to be with her in certain business occasions with outside the office, like at a cocktail party?”
LEMON: “Maybe.”
MAHER: “Places like that. No, I know, because, like, in our business and media, there’s a lot of cocktail parties, there’s a lot of assholes.”
LEMON: “A lot of cocktail parties. And remember, this was a while ago, there was not Uber, anything like that, and if you were in Atlanta, taxis aren’t available. And so, you know, you say, ‘Hey, you know, I’m gonna...’ — we’ve had a couple drinks and ‘Do you mind if I...’ or whatever, and you’re like, ‘No, no, no, don’t go home, stay in the guestroom,’ that sort of thing. So, yeah.”
MAHER: “The guestroom?”
LEMON: “Yeah.”
MAHER: “Oh, you were staying at somebody’s house? Right. Well, I mean, look — let me go back to the cocktail party, because there’s something very important about those kind of cocktail parties.”
LEMON: “Yeah.”
MAHER: “They serve these garlicky orders, and people have the worst sort of breath.”
LEMON: “Yes.”
MAHER: “Usually unattractive, pudgy, doughy male reporters, and they pin you to the wall and they’re talking to you and their breath stinks. If someone was sexually harassing me with bad breath, I would definitely go to H.R.. But if they did not have the garlicky breath, I would let the nipple tweaking go. That’s just where I draw the line. That just shows that we’re all individuals.”
LEMON: “We’re all individuals and I’m an adult and — and, look, maybe it’s — I think it is different for men and women, you know, depending on the power structure and that sort of thing.”
MAHER: “I wish I had been harassed this much, quite frankly. I think it’s — it’s flattering. As long as you can fend them off easily.”
LEMON: “Yes. As a man, I could say, ‘No, I’m not interested,’ or just — “
MAHER: “Right.”
LEMON: “But also, as someone — as a — look, as someone who was molested as a child from — “
MAHER: “You were?”
LEMON: “Yeah.”
MAHER: “Oh. Terrible.”
LEMON: “So for me it is a different thing.”
MAHER: “Of course.”
LEMON: “I know how to say — “
MAHER: “It must be very triggering.”
LEMON: “Well, yes and no, because you know how to deal with it and you know what’s really important or not, and you know, like, who has the power. I figure, as a man, I have the power to say, ‘I don’t want to do this, I don’t...’”
MAHER: “Yes. And you’re bigger and stronger.”
LEMON: “Yes, I don’t need to go to H.R. and ruin your career. I just tell you, ‘I’m not interested in this, you were drunk, we had a couple drinks or whatever. Let’s let it go.’”