Don Lemon, the former proud and self-declared bad boy of CNN, is building lots of experience at being fired. After the notorious exit from CNN last year, after making ageist and sexist comments about Nikki Haley, Lemon had been looking for a comeback with his new show on the X platform, “The Don Lemon Show.”
But Elon Musk fired him this week when he unexpectedly canceled the show just hours after sitting down for an interview with the former anchor.
Lemon had boasted on X, “I’ve heard you …and I am back, bigger, bolder, freer! My new media company’s first project is The Don Lemon Show. It will be available to everyone, easily, whenever and wherever you want it, streaming on the platforms where the conversations are happening,” the hot-tempered former anchor wrote.
Lemon had taped the sit-down with the billionaire owner of X, SpaceX and Tesla on Friday. Shortly after came the bad news. Musk was not happy.
Lemon took to social media to comment. “Elon Musk has canceled the partnership I had with X,” Lemon said. “There were no restrictions on the interview that he willingly agreed to, and my questions were respectful and wide ranging, covering everything from SpaceX to the presidential election. We had a good conversation. Clearly, he felt differently.”
Musk then provided his own view; hours later he retorted in a post on X, “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,” a source added.
The source with knowledge of the hour-and-a-half-long interview also noted that, “He was unpolished. He didn’t have producers in his ear. Jeff Zucker used to be in his ear and he would repeat back everything he was told,” he told The Post. Flying solo in the interview with Musk exposed how much he depended on outside guidance.
“Don was underwhelming, unprepared and dull,” the source said, noting that Lemon didn’t ask any edgy or interesting questions.
Now more information has emerged that paints Lemon as out-of-touch with his image and how much—or how little- clout he has.
It seems that Lemon sent over an extravagant wish list to Elon Musk during contract talks that included a free Tesla Cybertruck, a $5 million upfront payment on top of an $8 million salary, an equity stake in the multibillion-dollar company, and the right to approve any changes in X policy as it relates to news content, according to a document reviewed by The Post. Not content with these big asks, Lemon had also demanded a private jet flight to Las Vegas, a suite for him and his fiancé, and that the company pay for their day drinking and massages, a source with knowledge of the situation said.
The partnership between Lemmon and Musk was announced in January, but an X spokesperson told The Post that the company “did not have a final or signed agreement with Don Lemon or ‘The Don Lemon Show’” before Musk sat down for the explosive interview last week. In short, Lemon’s first interview was really a trial period, he just didn’t realize it.
Despite the outrageous demands, Musk had agreed, but once he saw the interview, he bowed out of the “partnership.”
Now Lemon is looking for another job, another chance at a big comeback.
