[2] Don Lemon departed his program in October 2022 to move to CNN This Morning; on October 10, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Jake Tapper became an interim host of the 9 p.m. hour, and Don Lemon Tonight was replaced with hours of CNN Tonight hosted by Alisyn Camerota and Laura Coates.

His departure came amid growing controversy over his promotion of Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories.

ET hour by CNN Tonight, an interim program hosted by a rotation of anchors (which would include John Roberts, Erica Hill, and Tom Foreman),[5] until the premiere of a new program hosted by CNN's chief national correspondent John King.

[6][7] CNN Tonight ran until January 18, 2010, when The Situation Room was pushed into its timeslot by the premiere of Rick's List.

[16][17] Don Lemon later became the permanent host of the hour, after which it evolved from a straight newscast to a personality-based program similar to CNN's other prime time shows.

[19] On December 1, 2021, CNN received allegations and documentary evidence that Chris Cuomo—who had already been suspended indefinitely following reports that he assisted in the defense against the sexual harassment allegations that led to the resignation of his brother Andrew Cuomo as governor of New York[20][21]—had engaged in sexual misconduct involving a former colleague, represented by attorney Debra Katz.

[22][23] As of June 2022, the program had largely remained in third place among cable news channels in the 9 p.m. hour, behind MSNBC Prime (a retooling of The Rachel Maddow Show similarly featuring rotating anchors, after Maddow moved to a weekly schedule in May 2022 to accommodate other projects) and Fox News Channel's Hannity.

[27] The premiere of CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper on October 10 featured interviews with Joe Biden and Dwayne Johnson; while still finishing third overall, it did see an improvement in average viewership over the hour in September 2022, and that night's edition finished second behind MSNBC's Alex Wagner Tonight in the 25-54 demographic.