Don Lemon Blasts Jussie Smollett: He 'Made Up Too Many Lies'

CNN's Don Lemon came down hard on former friend Jussie Smollett.

Last night, a jury found Smollett guilty on five out of six counts of disorderly conduct for staging the January 2019 hate crime against himself. Smollett has been convicted of a stage four felony and can face up to three years in prison. He has also expected to have to pay a fine for each charge.

Smollett gave no reaction as the verdict was read. He stared straight ahead with his hands folded in front of him. Attorneys that represent Smollett say that they plan to appeal the ruling. Smollett has yet to be sentenced, but legal analysts believe he is likely to face probation.

Last night, Don Lemon came out swinging against the former "Empire" actor last night but still failed to mention his own involvement in the case.

As The Blast previously reported, Lennon admitted in 2019 that he texted Smollett "every day" after he first reported that he had been attacked. He even admitted to CNN viewers that Smollett’s case was “personal” to him because they were close friends.

When police said that they found evidence that Smollett staged the attack, Lemon said that Smollett “lied to a lot of people…including me.”

When police started investigating the incident, Lemon sent Smollett a text message to let him know that he was being investigated by police.

Smollett admitted this while testifying on Monday afternoon, saying that Lemon’s text message was the key factor in his decision not to let the police see his phone records because Lemon warned him that police "did not believe his story."

Lemon has been mum about the text message during his recent coverage of Smollett's trial. He made no mention of it after a guilty verdict was announced last night when he branded Smollett a "liar."

Lemon said that Smollett “had to make up too many lies” and added that he "got caught up in that because he took the stand himself. He got angry with the prosecutor as the prosecutor poked holes in his story, calling the only other witnesses liars."

Lemon added that Smollett has harmed the community at large, making it harder for "legitimate victims of hate crimes" to speak out.

Many have compared Don Lemon's conflict of interest reporting on the Jussie Smollett trial to ChrisCuomo's coverage of his older brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Andrew Cuomo resigned in August and Chris Cuomo was fired last week. He faces multiple sexual misconduct accusations of his own.