Elon Musk “Mad” At Don Lemon, Dumps Ex-CNN Anchor’s New X Show After One-On-One Sit-Down

Dominic Patten
·4 min read
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Elon Musk may not like talking with Don Lemon about all the lawsuits against him, but the world’s second richest man could be facing possible new legal action after “canceling” the ex-CNN anchor’s much hyped new show on X just days before its debut.

“Elon Musk is mad at me, and I just put out a statement about what happened between him, me and the interview that he is apparently so upset about,” said Lemon in a video on the platform once known as Twitter:

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The not-so-shocking news of the erratic X owner dumping The Don Lemon Show, which is set to debut on March 18, came less than 24 hours after the unveiling of Musk as the first guest.

Covering uneasy topics like the various lawsuits against Musk, the legal actions Musk himself has instigated, and the billionaire’s drug use, among others I’m told, the March 8 filmed sit-down with Musk clearly got under the Tesla owner’s thin skin.

Which means, instead of joining fellow fired anchor Tucker Carlson in a social media resurrection, the UTA-repped Lemon may find himself taking legal action over the cancellation to ensure he is paid the monies due to him. Given the deal with X announced early this year, Lemon could be seeking a pay-out somewhere in the mid-seven figures.

Lemon will talk about what happened on Erin Burnett OutFront tonight, making his first appearance on CNN since he was let go from the network last April.

Soon after Lemon announcing his sudden axing by Musk’s platform this AM, X released a statement saying that Lemon’s show “is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities. However, like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”

Musk himself responded, writing that Lemon’s “approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying. And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.”

This morning, Lemon provided a lot of details about what went down:

That’s a far cry from January when Lemon was brimming with praise for Musk and X, calling the social media platform “the biggest space for free speech in the world.” The irony is despite all this The Don Lemon Show will still play on X as Lemon plans to post it in full on his feed – unless Musk pulls the plug on said feed.

Otherwise, you’ll have to go to YouTube and major podcast platforms like Spotify and Apple Music to see what all the fuss is about.

The X cancellation is the second time in a year that Lemon has seen a deal go south. Back in April 2023, the then-CNN This Morning co-host was suddenly axed by Warner Bros Discovery following a series of on-air missteps after 17 years with the cable news channel.

Lemon’s exit came the morning after Fox News pulled top rated Tucker Carlson off the air following the network’s $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over election fraud claims. Lemon didn’t get Dominion kinda cash out of CNN, but in February his reps confirmed the outlet paid him the full amount of the three and a half years left on his contract – a sum that has been estimated to be around $24 million.

Later this afternoon, Lemon responded to Musk’s claim that “free speech is the bedrock of democracy. “You canceled my contract after our interview. I don’t think you believe in free speech.”

Ted Johnson contributed to this report.

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