Some of his Facebook fans seem unable to tell the difference between Don “Sweet-Not-Sour” Lemon and TJ Holmes! TJ has been subbing for Rick Sanchez this past week, but somehow his praise wound up on Don’s page.
In Don’s defense, though both brothers are cute they don’t look a DAMN THING ALIKE!
Poor, Don!
See proof after the jump!
Were is the LOVE, Facebook? Where is the looooove for the Lemon?
His fans are also terrible writers.
Hey now, don’t lump all Lemon Lovers into the same remedial basket. I actually like him a lot better than TJ Holmes. They both have boyish good looks, but TJ feels like a little brother to me.I get all May-December when I see Don.
Don is pretty and smart. His intelligence is attractive. TJ is hot, hot, hot. There is your difference.
thought you lie this article Generation Ohttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5627510.ece
I work in the same building with both of these guys, and sadly, it took me about 6 months before I could tell them apart. Now, I don’t even see a resemblance!! Crazy.
Proof that to many "others", all negroes look alike!Speaking of Mr. Holmes, I took a glance of your Wall of Sexy not too long ago. I don’t want to sound mean but …as one commentator a while back observed, the wall is a bit, um, well …light. Just like the good number of the black men you cite as attractive. There’s nothing wrong with this at all. As we all have certain physical attributes that strike as particular striking. Yet this pattern seems interesting coming from you since you’ve eloquently elaborated on the politics of skin shade among African Americans and all other peoples of color.
@ someonesomewhereWell, if you read the the lengthy discussion of comments on the "For fun only" Wall of Sexy, you can read every one of my responses to this inquiry. It’s not that I don’t want to answer your question (because I’m going to do it anyway). But I’ve had this question asked multiple times and have answered it multiples in various threads on the blog and Flickr. I realize you mean nothing by it. You’re merely curious. But the wall is based on people who appear on television, in film, in sports, in magazines and on the runway. The main requirement that the photo must be a gorgeous, preferably studio shot. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, it is:1) Hard to find high quality photos of black men on the web period. There’s lots of porny ones. Or hideous ones of rappers but outside of Mos Def, Kanye West, Andre 3000 (and TI) I don’t find ANY rappers attractive.2) Even harder to find multiple pictures of darker male actors on the Web3) Hollywood and the runway are still quite prejudiced, so a lot of the players are not exceedingly dark.4) I’m not big into sports, so the number of athletes on the wall is limited.The wall is merely reflection of that. I find a lot of people good looking. But I can guarantee you, with blacks as the minority in Hollywood and the top photographers lavishing much more time on Matt Damon, than say, Eammon Walker, I’m going to have a lot more pictures of Matt Damon. (Yet it’s probably a tie between Noeime Lenoir, Jill Marie Jones, Zoe Saldana and Korean American Actor Daniel Henney who have the most photos of all.) Also, there are a lot of people folks consider light, I don’t consider light. (TJ Holmes is just brown to me. I really don’t understand it when people call him light-skinned. Someone called NFL baller Ray Lewis light. Really? Harold Ford, Jr. on the other hand …) Light to me is you’re almost white looking. (I do have shrine to Wentworth Miller on a separate page!) I don’t consider myself to be light even though I’ve been told I am, multiple times. So I end up being accused (constantly) of being some "light-skinned chick" quite negatively OR WORSE, accused of faking like I’m light skinned because the rules are soooo subjective! I mean, I’m brown. I think the wall is probably dominated by brown people and every kind of brunette. I mean, poor Scarlett Johanssen, Kristianna Lokken, Owen Wilson, Uma Thurman and Kristen Bell are basically holding it up for the blonds(Unless you count that one pic of HK superstar Andy Lau with blond hair. Which I don’t, with him being all kinds of hot Chinese.)But, for the record, out of the more than 2,147 pictures on the wall, actors/models Djimon Honsou, Eamonn Walker, Mr. Echo from "Lost" (who’s name I always misspell), Isaiah Washington, Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Jamie Foxx, Dennis Haysbert, Dave Chappelle, Blair Underwood, Derek Luke, Richard T. Jones, Mihki Pfiefer, Bill Bellamy, Omar Epps, Harold Pierannu, one monikered actor/musician Leon of whom there are NEVER enough pictures of, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, Dule Hill, Idris Elba, Wesley Snipes, Samuel L. Jackson, Tyrese Gibson, Tyson Beckford, Nick Cannon (he actually took a few good pictures), Tiki Barber and Rockmond Dunbar all have multiple pictures on the wall. So do a lot of brown, light skinned, Asian, Latino and white actors. But since it is more than 2,000 pictures, yes, if you just glance at the tiny dots and the dark people are dispersed alphabetically among them, yes, they out number them. But I’d also argue the dark skin men out number the Asians.And Asian men are hot too. If we’re talking women I have my shrine to the most gorgeous black woman on television, Jill Marie Jones, the baddest black model to ever live, Naomi Campbell, as well as Alex Wek, Iman, N’Bushe Wright, Kellita Smith, Angela Bassett, Serena Williams, Theresa Randall, Yaya DaCosta, Zoe Saldana, another shrine to Meagan Good, Noemie Harris, a classic pic of Melba Moore, Nia Long, Robin Givens, Michelle Obama, Carla Campbell, Merrin Dungey, Stacey Dash, Sophie Okendo, Venus Williams, Emanuela de Paula, Megalyn Echikunwoke, models I like but don’t know the names of and Gabbrielle Union. The wall is a reflection of all kinds of beauty. It is not supposed to be political. If you wanted to, you could go through all 2,147 names and pictures and segregate the people and put them in their respective categories and deem what ever psychology exists behind that. Naomi Campbell (who is on there a ton of times) isn’t better or worse than the lighter Vernoica Webb or Noemie Lenoir (who are also on there a ton of times.) And I love how Isaiah Washington looks as much as I love Korean American actor/model Daniel Henney looks, but the Koreans produced waaa-aay more hot pictures of Henney because they have their own media/beauty industry pumping out photos of their respective hotties. When I say I find all sorts of men attractive I mean it. And the wall reflects that. I mean, John Leguizamo is on it! And Nate Parker! And Jimmy Smits and poor Jimmy Smits has a lot fewer pictures than Isaiah.But you know who has a lot of pictures on there? Black and brown people. The wall is dominated by black, brown, biracial and multiracial people, every kind of Latino and Asians. So, if anyone has a gripe, it’s Matt Damon because I think he’s pretty hot, but I’m almost positive I only have four pictures of him, compared to Denzel, who has 13. So there is ONE active bit of politicization that does exist on the wall. I put up fewer pictures of the white actors I love because the beauty industry produces an over abundance of lovely images of them. AND I knew people would complain. I just didn’t anticipate people selectively going over all the other brown people with a reverse paper bag test. So yeah. If anyone on the wall has beef, it’s the white men and women. Except for Angelina Jolie, who I am highly partial too. But then she’s a crazy brunette and I’ve already admitted a bias to the dark-haired peoples of the world.Taye Diggs probably also would have a complaint because he’s non-existent on the wall, but I can’t STAND Taye Diggs. So … no.But seriously. You’re not supposed to think that hard about the wall. I prefer not to think about the wall that hard, because every time someone asks this question it feels sooo much like everyday of my formative years where I was accused of not being black enough because I didn’t speak slang and was a nerd. I assure you. I can find Leo DiCaprio hot and still be down for the cause. The two are not mutually exclusive.And the only reason why I don’t go into creepy depth with my fascination with the beauty of Isaiah Washington is that because the one time I featured him on the blog a year ago I incurred the wrath of people still mad at him for the whole "Chokegate/gay slur" fiasco on Grey’s Anatomy. But I’ve had issues with this particular litmus test all my life as I’ve watched black people portray some of the most confusing (but understandably confused) behavior over this issue. We are all a little warped in the head about it. That’s why it’s fascinating. Like the whole whether light-skinned men are "in or out" debate which I think is the stupidest thing in the world and I refuse to engage in. Or why is it that you can’t find a dark skinned male anchor on major network television and TV news? I’m working with what I’m given. Malik Yoba wasn’t covering the Obama campaign on BET and TVOne. Hill Harper was. But do I have to pretend like Hill Harper is unattractive because skin color is a such a sore issues?What are the rules here?Anyway, this has become a rant, because, as I said, it is a sore spot for me, because I feel like some people just get offended by there being non-black people on the wall and my name being "The Black Snob" and can’t reconcile why I would create something that would feature something other than just black people or specifically, one kind of black people.Anyway. That answer was fo
r anyone who wanted to know. As always, if you have a suggestion of gentleman or woman who you think should go up on the wall who is NOT Taye Diggs (because he is forever and ever banned) and you have high quality, beautiful pictures of them (because I want my black, brown, tan, Asian and Latinos to look just as gorgeous as their white counterparts who all got their pictures taken by Giselle Bensimon in Vogue and Vanity Fair on sunswept beaches looking like Breck girls), PLEASE point me in that direction.And if you’d like to add to the 28 medium brown to dark brown men on the wall with pictures I don’t have, send those too.Send links, emails and suggestions here. I apologize if I came off as snarky or testy, but seriously. It’s a sore spot for me. I do like discussing color issues because they fascinate me, but I’m not infatuated by any particular color.If anyone wants to scour the 2,147 pictures (and growing), click here.
Wow, you let me have it! LOLYour wall is quite diverse. I should have stated that in my last message. Your inclusion of many non-black minorities from the world of entertainment and sports is commendable. Outside of blacks, the media acts as if no other "minorities" exist. The skin shade observation was merely an observation. It could be the way that Flickr arranges the photos. Because it can appear that way. However, one can still have a preference and STILL appreciate other types of beauty. A devil’s advocate could conclude that perhaps, consciously or subconsciously, you may have a particular liking to people who fall on the lighter end of the equation YET can still see and celebrate the beauty in others who deviate from that mode. For instance, I find beauty in anyone or everyone. If you’re hot, you’re hot. However, I can still admit that I find people of color, be they African, East Asian, South Asian, Pacific Islander, etc., on average, to be a lot more alluring and sexier than Europeans (outside of those swarthy Southern Euros- Italians, Portuguese, Spainards). I don’t hold anything against whites, would never say that whites aren’t (or are less) attractive (that’s a lie) and can say that I find several of them to be quite hot yet they’re not my first choice. A lot of that has to do with my racial attitudes, as does any racialized idea of beauty.Yet, I agree with you. Black is black. Sexy is sexy. When I made my observation, I wasn’t questioning your blackness or any of the celebs’. I’m not that type. I just found it strange since most of the black celebs, male or female, past or present, weren’t particulary light (very subjective). I’m surprised you say that you have a hard time finding presentable studio shots of black male actors. Have you tried Flickr or IMDB Pro? There’s many exceedingly dark-complexioned beauty queens and models, from around the world. I could recommend some, perhaps, for future additions, if you’d like.And I don’t think that anyone would have a hard time coming up with dark skinned(so subjective, because isn’t that the great majority of black folks, more or less?) black males in the various industries.Well, I hope you don’t take my commentary as anything other than mere observation. I would never accuse anyone of anything, when the only things I know about them, is what they’ve displayed online. And there’s nothing wrong with having a preference. That doesn’t make anyone a bad person. As long as you don’t knock anyone who doesn’t fit the preferred "type", I see no problem with it.Thanks for the conversation! Great blog, by the way.
P.S.I was just re-reading your post.I wouldn’t consider Hill Harper to be "light skinned" at all. I say Don Lemon and the other guy on CNN (forget his name) are medium brown. Bernard Shaw, was/is(?) the only black anchor on CNN, with actual clout. He’s hardly light. Yet, he’s not exactly "sex symbol" material. Can’t forget Harold Dow on CBS and some others. (I could add Al Roker but I won’t go there …LOL)I just dislike when blacks say that "There’s not that many dark (which is?) people around…" when the majority of successful or good looking blacks, in the industry and especially in real time, are hardly predominately-light. It is a sore topic for African Americans. And I, like you, tire of black Americans turning discussions of attractiveness into long drawn-out discussions of colorism, colonalism, and the like. Yet that’s the black experience of the U.S. When blacks are so stigmatized and told they are inferior in everyway, INCLUDING physical appearance, it adds a weird pathology. And of course, the god-awful color caste system that blacks were put into in many parts of the country, compliments things a great deal. In fact, of all of the racism that whites have thrown on black Americans, the obsession with skin shade is the one that the victims have been absorbed the most throughly. So, you can see why this kinds of discussions take place, with something that’s otherwise rather innocent. It’s crazy but when you have a country that attached various degrees of status to gradiation of shades, it’s makes sense.
@ someonesomewhereYes. It really wasn’t so much you (as I stated early on). I just get this so much that it has, quite honestly, driven me insane. I knew you weren’t trying to accuse me of colorism, but I have been accused of it in the past so I have this sort of trigger response that is all kinds of hurt feelings and defensive.My bias (which I state to in the description on the Flickr page) is for olive to dark skinned people with brown to black hair. I mean, I realized that when even the white people I picked were all two shades lighter than Rosario Dawson, but had her hair or lips. I have a CLEAR bias in that regard that I own up to.But in my personal life and growing up within my family where everyone was adamant about their blackness whether they were dark like my grandfathers or almost passing like a few of my aunts, I didn’t think much of it until I started elementary school at an all-black elementary school when everyone’s insecurities are much more raw and unsubtle. What resulted was an asinine guilt I felt whenever I found a light skinned man, Asian man or Latino attractive. My friends quickly gave me the stink eye. It didn’t matter than my boyfriend (and later husband and later ex-husband) was dark. The mere fact that I expressed a love for Allen Payne was enough to question my commitment to the community.A few years ago I just shouted "fuck it," and decided I would enjoy good looking people. But I still wind up having to defend myself from time to time. So, it wasn’t really you, but other people who were less charitable about it.Sorry if I jumped down your throat there. My other sore spots include "You don’t SOUND like a black person," "A Nirvana CD?" and anything that has to do with my hair. My Lord. I once cut off all my hair because I couldn’t deal with the bad pathology I had over it based on everyone making such a big deal over it being long and chemically straightened, from both people who coveted it to people who insisted I couldn’t be fully black because of it to people who accused me of selling-out by having a perm (even if I was more astute and political on black issues and history than them).I’ve worn in natural for years now and it’s long and bushy (just like in the cartoon), YET I also enjoy how it looks straight, but now every time I think about the hot comb the pathology pops up and goes "Are you embracing white beauty by straightening your curls? You sell out!" OR "You do realize that you will start attracting THOSE hair obsessed weirdos again like your exes who all said asshat things like, if you ever cut your hair I’ll dump you."It’s just sooo exhausting.So, like I said, it wasn’t you. You were polite. It’s me. I’m really, really, really sensitive about this issue as I am a not light skinned, light skinned person with long hair who was constantly accused of being something other than black even though I think with my nose, lips and hair I couldn’t be any more obviously a Negro.Me, circa, six months agoBut everything is subjective.
@ someonesomewhereOh, and to clarify. It’s hard to find magazine pretty shots of known actors and models I LIKE. If I wanted random hot dudes I suppose it wouldn’t be as much of an issue. There are gay black male photo blogs devoted to the subject. But I’m into actors (obviously) and they don’t get near the same over-the-top fashion, glamor spread love as their white counterparts. I mean, I collect pictures of celebrities as a hobby (the Wall of Sexy is like the tip of a more than 30,000 picture archive). So, believe me when I say, high end, fancy-pants photographers aren’t checking for my favs. I mean, the fact there aren’t tons of high-end fashion spread type editorials with Idris Elba is a crime within itself. Even Will Smith has some pretty shitacular photo options compared to someone far less famous, like James Franco, who must be an Adonis to every celebrity/fashion/entertainment magazine in the world.I mean, he is cute, but would it kill them to take romantically pretty pictures of Nate Parker more often?
@Danielle B.I think people mean anyone lighter than themselves when they speak on light skin/dark skin. So when someone is deemed attractive the first question they ask themselves is "is this person lighter than me?" "Does that mean I am attractive too?"In actuality, skin tone, clarity, features are all part of someone’s attractiveness. Can you imagine Morris Chestnutt as Harold Ford Jr’s complexion? Not attractive.
Yes, the terms "light skinned" and "dark skinned" are purely subjective as they rely on perception and as the previous poster noted, relatively.The people who labeled someone medium-complexioned like Belton "light skinned" were most likely darker than her. Somoene the complexion as say, Ford, Jr., could call Belton "dark skinned". So, yeah, it is about relatively.Personally, I wouldn’t call a black person "light skinned" unless they are white skinned (like Ford, Jr.), beige-ish, yellow-ish or tannish. Anything that doesn’t fit that profile isn’t "light" to me. And of course, outside of the black complexion spectrum, pretty much every black person is dark skinned. No question. Again, it’s about relatively.
Okay, no hating of ‘The DL’ and no!!! I do not mean Hughley!!! Don is the only reason I will actually watch any part of CNN for more than two minutes……..not that won’t watch TJ, ’cause I will, but ‘The DL’ has the steady weekend gig……. About the ‘Great Wall of Sexy’…..have I recently mentioned my completely over the top adoration of Ed Quinn????? I think he deserves a shrine, though I guess that would be on my blog should I ever start one.Luv your blog as always!!!
Black Snob, Don Lemon is so adorable – TJ Holmes is fine, but Don I could date! He loves his Momma1 Tiki Barber has the hottest bod – yum!
Allow me to spill a "little" Haterade… :)I like TJ, the other guy reminds me of that toy they used to have years ago called "Glow Worm".Don has looked a little less glow-wormy since his hair started growing the last couple weeks.
LMAO @ Chas. Am I wrong for not finding either of them attractive either. Their faces are as interesting as Wonder Bread. Don Lemon even more so.
Just to clear things up…Lemon and Holmes ARE the same person…. CNN is trying to save money
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