Elon Musk blames Don Lemon's 'invasive' interview for cancelling show on X

By Kurt Wagner 

Elon Musk cited Don Lemon’s “invasive and charged interview” with the X owner as grounds for walking away from a $1.5 million partnership deal in early 2024, after the former CNN star escalated a legal feud over a canceled new show. 

Lemon, who was fired from the network in 2023, sued Musk in August after the billionaire’s social network backed away from partnering with the high-profile journalist to create exclusive video shows for X. The first episode of Lemon’s show was a sit-down interview with Musk, who purchased the platform formally known as Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion. 

 

That interview didn’t go well, and Lemon pushed Musk on several topics including questions about his personal drug use. Musk, who grew visibly irritated during the conversation, ended the partnership within a day of the interview, Lemon claimed. Musk later suggested that his issue was with the show’s format, which “was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media,’” he wrote. 

 

Now Musk is trying to get Lemon’s lawsuit dismissed in California Superior Court, arguing that the relationship between X and Lemon “went sour” after the interview. A hearing on Musk’s request is set for Feb. 26.

 

‘Interrogated Musk’ 

Lemon “repeatedly — and publicly — interrogated Musk in a sprawling interview about, among other topics, his ability to run his companies, including X; his political and ethical beliefs; his mental health; and his use of prescription medication,” Musk’s lawyer wrote in a filing. “Upset with the rupture of the potential commercial relationship and the all-too foreseeable consequences of his actions, plaintiff filed this lawsuit.”

 

X and Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino had recruited Lemon as part of an effort to get more high-quality video onto the platform as a way to win back advertisers who had fled following Musk’s takeover. Several of the shows the company announced have failed to materialize. 

 

Lemon last month added multiple claims to his suit, including defamation, retaliation and harassment, and he also added Yaccarino and X’s head of content, talent and brand sales, Brett Weitz, as defendants. Musk’s lawyers responded by arguing that the allegations amount to an unconstitutional attack on X’s “editorial decision” about what content does and doesn’t appear on the platform.

 

Carney Shegerian, a lawyer for Lemon, said Musk’s latest filing confirms what the journalist has said all along — Musk canceled the contract because he didn’t like being asked hard questions.

 

‘Reputational damage’ 

“This case isn’t about free speech — as the whole world knows, Musk says whatever he wants, whenever he wants,” Shegerian said in a statement. “It’s about X intentionally and carelessly misleading my client, causing him serious financial and reputational damage.”

 

Representatives of X didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

 

Musk, who has referred to himself as a “free speech absolutist,” has punished people who criticise him or his businesses on several different occasions since acquiring Twitter. Shortly after he took over the company, he fired some employees who criticized him in internal discussion channels. He has also banned some X user accounts that tracked his private plane. 

 

The case is Lemon v. Musk, CGC24616892, California Superior Court, San Francisco County.