Don Lemon has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, over a scrapped talk show partnership. Lemon alleges that the deal, which would have seen him hosting a new talk show on X, was abruptly terminated, opening claims of fraud, breach of contract, and misrepresentation.
The lawsuit, filed in the California Superior Court in San Francisco, asserts that Musk and X inveigled Lemon into the partnership with “false promises and representations.” According to Lemon, the deal promised $1.5 million along with a share of advertising revenue, but was abruptly canceled after he filmed an initial interview with Musk. The interview, recorded at Tesla’s headquarters in Texas, became tense as Lemon questioned Musk about his use of ketamine and the rise of hate speech on X. “The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it,” Musk told Lemon during the exchange.
News from me…#TheDonLemonShow pic.twitter.com/PzlKuvkZtj
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) March 13, 2024
Carney Shegerian, Lemon’s attorney, emphasized the straightforwardness of the case: “X executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Don’s name through the mud.” Shegerian added that the lawsuit is about defending Lemon’s reputation and holding X accountable for their actions.
His 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.
All this said, Lemon/Zucker are…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 13, 2024
The partnership was part of Musk’s broader strategy to transform X into a “video-first platform,” attempting to lure mainstream media personalities to revive its advertising appeal. This shift was crucial after Musk’s controversial takeover of X in 2022 led to an exodus of advertisers wary of the platform’s content moderation policies. Lemon’s partnership was intended to resemble the success experienced by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson when he joined the platform. Unfortunately, that was quickly cut short by Musk.
