Nationwide — Don Lemon of CNN has issued a formal apology for some remarks he made in an interview with Joan Tarshis, who has accused comedian/actor Bill Cosby of raping her. During the interview, Lemon suggested that she could have avoided being raped by using her teeth while performing oral sex.
He continued, “You – you know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn’t want to do it.”
Then, Tarshis responded, “Oh. Um, I was kind of stoned at the time, and quite honestly, that didn’t even enter my mind. Now I wish it would have.”
LEMON: “Right. Meaning the using of the teeth, right?”
TARSHIS: “Yes, that’s what I’m thinking you’re —”
LEMON: “As a weapon.”
TARSHIS: “Yeah, I didn’t even think of it.”
LEMON: “Biting. So, um —”
TARSHIS: “Ouch.”
LEMON: “Yes. I had to ask. I mean, it is, yeah.”
But the very next day, as an apology, he said on his program, “I need to say something before we get to our next story. A word about my interview last night with Cosby accuser Joan Tarshis. As I am a victim myself I would never want to suggest that any victim could have prevented a rape. If my question to her struck anyone as insensitive, I am sorry as that is certainly and was not my intention.”
Watch the apology below: