NEW YORK (AP) - CNN fired longtime host Don Lemon on Monday following his short and disastrous run as a morning show host, a little over two months after he apologized for on-air comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being past her prime.

The move quickly turned nasty.

While CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht announced, after Lemon had co-hosted the show Monday, that they had “parted ways,” Lemon characterized it as a firing and said it was surprise to him.

“After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly,” Lemon said.

CNN offered no public explanation for Lemon’s dismissal.